Lurlene Nestor has been a parliamentarian since 2001 and attributes her involvement in politics to her belief that if you want to change something you have to take an active part in helping to bring about the change you desire.
She was motivated to enter public life because she was impressed by the way women like Viola Burnham conducted themselves in public and the contributions they were able to make to the development of the society. Her preference is for meeting with people and encouraging them to become involved in helping to change society in the direction they would like it to go.
Nestor or "Cousin Lurlene" as she was affectionately called during her days at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) where she was always being called on by her peers to solve or address some issue, became actively involved at a leadership level when with a number of young teachers who had graduated with her from the CPCE she formed a youth group to support the PNCR.
Dr Bheri Ramsarran
Despite the demands on her time from teaching and other activities, Nestor still found time to continue her studies. Following on from the Diploma in Industrial Relations from Critchlow Labour College, which she passed with distinction and which she did while still at CPCE, she earned a degree in Sociology from the University of Guyana (UG), another qualification earned with distinction and the LL.B, also from UG. She is a Fellow of the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies of the National Defense University, Washington DC.
Nestor has been teaching at Queenstown Community High School for the past twelve years as Head (ag) of the Mathematics Department and has found the experience very rewarding. Never more so, she said, when graduating with a distinction in Sociology at the same time as one of the students she taught who was graduating with a distinction in Communications. She says that while some see these children as troubled, she believes that they have a lot of potential and sees her task as to help them build their self-esteem.
In 2002 Nestor was elected chairman of the Guyana Youth and Students Movement (GYSM) having been its national secretary since 2000. She is the first woman to head this section of the party before its name change from the Young Socialist Movement. She joins party leader, Robert Corbin and Chairman Vincent Alexander as members of the present leadership who chaired the youth arm. She finds the position very challenging but stimulating as the movement entertains a wide range of views and the membership is comprised of some very bright young people. Nestor says the discussions are useful in widening one's horizons.
About her experience (so far) of parliamentary life, Nestor says that she finds it "very disappointing" and attributes this to the very high expectations of what things would be like in what she considers the most important forum in the country.
She explains that her watchwords are morality and discipline and she expects things to be done in a professional way. She says she is yet to see that being done in the parliament.
Nestor adds that the society is not yet able to look at issues in an objective manner. Her optimism that objectivity will prevail is sorely tried when she hears the comments from the government benches during the debates. She recalls during the debate on the Fiscal (Amendment) Bill hearing comments like, "Yuh talking good, but is we time now. Leh we run things nuh!" as if whatever you say does not matter whether it is credible or not.
"To me, to hear ministers of the government say that is quite disappointing," But she says that she has "to be optimistic that things can change because if I'm not optimistic there might be no hope for none of us."
She had hoped MPs would listen and see how to improve whatever piece of legislation was before them, as this would affect all Guyanese.
She says that while they may have made these comments jokingly she does not believe such jokes should pass. "We need a new culture where objectivity should be the watchword and in which ideas can be looked at thoroughly instead of just being knocked down."
She says that the present culture does not encourage young people to enter public life and can be very discouraging.
As a parliamentarian, Nestor says that the issue in which she is mainly interested is youth development and how to get young people involved in meaningful activities.
She is of the opinion that the Ministry of Culture and Sport should be reorganised to focus more on creating job opportunities and not be content with such projects as a three-month skills training programme. "I see everything in a context. I think that for whatever purpose it served and how it was designed, maybe it (the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport) functioned well for that era.
But with all the changes taking place, I would want to think its focus, its whole objective and how it operates generally should be restructured to meet the immediate demands of what young people really desire."
Also she says it should have a relationship with other agencies and institutions that could absorb some of the young people it trains. "It should be a little more pro-active in helping young people to secure their future."
She says too that issues related to women and to a lesser extent education are other areas of interest.
The level and quality of the parliamentary debates is not her only disappointment with parliamentary life. She finds the facilities for parliamentarians inadequate, even though she is aware that the parliamentary management committee is making efforts to improve them. She says that the facilities available to the regional parliamentarians are far from adequate and feels that they should be provided with an office in their constituencies to enable them to address the concerns of their constituents more effectively.
The stipend paid to parliamentarians is also inadequate particularly for the amount of travelling that they have to do. She says that she hopes that it will be addressed soon so that MPs can feel a sense of relief.
Despite the demands of teaching and her political commitment, Nestor finds time to go to church, though not as regularly as she would like, and to counsel young people. She describes the society as "morally decayed" and encourages "young people generally to live a life that they will not have to regret."
"I am aware of the fact that we do not have ideal role models and therefore one has to strive, in my view, to be one's own role model because we do not have the kind of role models that we would want to emulate."
She says that there are people out there who might be outstanding in different areas of their professional lives, which is commendable, but when not disciplined and morally fixed, they fall short of the standard for emulation.
As a consequence she says she uses much of her energy to talk to young people about discipline and morality since "for me you can be bright as the star and if you are not disciplined you really can't excel, no matter how intelligent you are."
"One of the key things I stress (about discipline) is being on time. I am living trying to prove this notion that Guyanese don't have respect for time is wrong in my book. I am living not accepting that."
She says that respect for time also has to be part of the 'change' process. "People need to have respect for time. You don't have no respect for time, you don't have no respect for self!" she asserts.
Dyed in the Wool -Dr Bheri Ramsarran
Dr Bheri Ramsarran is a Soviet-trained medical practitioner who grew up in Georgetown and whose interest in politics was piqued at a very early age as a result of the many discussions about the subject he overheard at his North Cummingsburg home.
He also frequented the Bourda Green, at that time it was an open field, where he heard speakers like Dr Cheddi Jagan.
Dr Ramsarran attended the Sacred Heart Primary School and received his secondary education at Indian Education Trust College where he came under the influence of Navin Chandarpal and Odeen Ishmael, now Ambassador to Venezuela. But he found his way to the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO), which he joined in 1973, independent of them.
On leaving the Indian Education Trust College, Dr Ramsarran read medicine at the Patrice Lumumba Friendship University and after graduating in 1986 stayed on for a further year to undergo post-graduate training in medicine and surgery.
He returned to Guyana in 1987 and was assigned to the Georgetown Hospital until he was transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital in June 1988. Eventually transferred back to Georgetown in July 1996, he worked in various departments before moving to the Ministry of Health as Director(ag), Regional Health Services in November 2002. As director, he has an active role in overseeing the construction of the new hospital in New Amsterdam and at Monday's sitting of the National Assembly distributed a government bulletin in which the hospital is featured, to members of the media.
While he was attached to the New Amsterdam Hospital, Dr Ramsarran did stints at the hospitals at Skeldon and Port Mourant. During his attachment his career was interrupted when he faced what he calls trumped up political charges that resulted in his interdiction from duty for four years between 1989-1993 after which the case against him was dropped. He recalls the incident with a wry smile because he had a small private practice at Port Mourant but was known as "Dr Out" as he was more in and out. This was because he was frequently involved in the intense political activity that followed the presentation of the 1989 budget.
Discussing his involvement with the PYO, Dr Ramsarran recalls that the infamous elections of 1973 sparked his desire to be associated with organised activities such as sports, cultural activities and bottom-house film shows. He says he later organised some of these same activities and also served as secretary for education and later as secretary for international affairs.
Dr Ramsarran has been a member of the PPP's Central Committee since 1987 and was also a member of the party's central executive until just after the party's 2002 congress when he declined the nomination for election to the executive committee, because of the pressure of work. He says he has always been a member of the "original" Campbellville group, (there are now several groups in the area) save when he was in Berbice. In Berbice, he has been at various times a member of the party group in New Amsterdam, Port Mourant, and the one at No 47 Village.
Dr Ramsarran entered the National Assembly on March 3, 1999, taking up the seat which Dr Cheddi (Joey) Jagan Jr vacated. Apart from his interest in matters related to health, he is keenly interested in the efforts the PPP is making to improve governance. He says he is also one to listen to the views of the man in the street about the PPP efforts.
Another interest is that of the rights of vulnerable groups especially the indigenous peoples. He says that even before becoming a parliamentarian he had travelled extensively throughout the country with people like Harripersaud Nokta, Vibert De Souza and Prime Minister Sam Hinds on party assignments.
He says that during these trips he was able to get a good grasp of the problems of the various Amerindian communities and he tries to bring this knowledge to bear when issues related to Amerindians come before the National Assembly.
About his experience as a parliamentarian, Dr Ramsarran says he has seen an increase in the demands that are being made on the time and skills of its members especially in the sectoral committees. He explains that committee members are required to be present at meetings and assimilate a large amount of information in order to make informed contributions.
But he notes that there are also opportunities for training and upgrading for parliamentarians which the National Democratic Institute(NDI) is providing.
Commenting on the debates in the National Assembly, Dr Ramsarran says that members of the government benches go though a rigorous preparation which includes attendance at sessions chaired by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Reepu Daman Persaud where bills being introduced by the government are explained in detail and the various arguments for and against it are analysed.
He says he is impressed by speakers from the government benches such as Gail Teixeira, Dr Leslie Ramsammy and when he was a minister, Navin Chandarpal, for the way they thoroughly researched their presentations. On the opposition benches he is impressed by Winston Murray with whom he worked while a member of the Public Accounts Committee.
He says that while he finds most of the opposition presentations tend to split hairs, Murray's do not and as result he pays attention when Murray gets up to speak.
A concern to Dr Ramsarran is the number of questions which the opposition members call on ministers to answer. He says that with a little effort the members could ascertain the answers to their questions without having to come to the parliament. He says it results in wasting the time of the ministry's staff in finding information that the parliamentarians could have obtained for themselves. However, he says that that as the parliament matures he expects that he would see less of this.
Commenting on the facilities for parliamentarians, Dr Ramsarran says that he has always received prompt attention from the Parliament Office to his requests for information, pieces of legislation that he might have misplaced and access to the library. He says that he must attention the unfailing courtesy and professionalism of the Parliament Office staff.
Dr Ramsarran also commends the Parliament Office for launching its website, which it did with the assistance of NDI, adding that it is fitting that the parliament took the initiative to present itself to the public. The website allows both parliamentarians and the public better access to information about the work of the parliament.
Commenting on the stipend paid to parliamentarians, Dr Ramsarran says the allowances that will be paid to parliamentarians should increase its adequacy. He notes too that some of the fringe benefits afforded to parliamentarians such as free crossing of the ferries and bridges only benefit those who travel into and out of Georgetown regularly.
Dr Ramsarran says that as the Parliamentary Management Committee becomes more effective more and more of the expenses that parliamentarians now absorb in the discharge of their functions would be met by the parliamentary system.