President Bharrat Jagdeo and Ministers of the Government fanned out to Region Three to discuss the 2009 Budget and related issues yesterday.
The cabinet outreach was organized after the National Assembly approved the 2009 Budget on Thursday night. Not many persons were present at the few locations this newspaper visited.
At Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir spoke to a few residents at the Zeelugt Primary School while at Tuschen, EBE, Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai spoke to residents at the home of a villager.
She said that government wants to keep the people updated on what the Budget offers them, hence the outreach.
“We are about to be aggressively implementing this year’s project”, she added. The Minister outlined several projects for the Region included in the budget including, building and maintenance of bridges, roads, construction of kokers, improvement of the water supply, drainage and irrigation works including the cleaning of drains and canals among others. She assured the small gathering that government was committed to “keeping sugar alive”.
When the opportunity to ask questions came, residents asked about when bad roads would be repaired, the clearing of drains, the provision of running water and street lamps among other issues. While noting that the administration could assist with the bigger issues, Sukhai urged that the smaller ones can be done via self-help as community projects.
