President Ali’s religious belief has brought international goodwill- Teixeira

Last Updated on Sunday, 10 October 2021, 16:02 by Denis Chabrol

President Irfaan Ali being a Muslim has secured international support from leading countries of the Arab world, Minister of Governance Gail Teixeira said Sunday.

Addressing congregants at a Hindu Temple in Queens, New York, she underscored the value of the President’s religious persuasion in accessing much-needed assistance. “We recognise that President Ali is a Muslim and also that has brought goodwill to us from the Middle East, from Qatar, from Kuwait, from the United Arab Emirates etc,” she said.

She said a 100-bed field hospital that had been donated by Qatar would soon be opened to help the public health sector cope with the rising number of persons who are being hospitalised with COVID-19.

The Guyana government earlier this year announced that it would be opening embassies in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as part of a plan to expand its diplomatic presence in the Middle East.

Guyana’s initial procurement of more than 200,000 doses of the Russia-made Sputnik vaccine had been from  Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Juma Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates who had visited Guyana in November 2020.

In addition to support from overseas-based Guyanese she told the Hindu gathering that major Western Nations and regional and international organisations have all been providing Guyana with “goodwill.”

Latest figures show that 62 percent of Guyanese have received a first dose COVID vaccine and 36 percent a second dose. So far,  the viral disease has claimed the lives of more than 800 Guyanese, the majority of whom were unvaccinated.

The United States has provided more than 200, 000 doses of the Pfizer  vaccines to be administered to adolescents.