-commits to providing help but says villagers must ‘want this too as badly as we do’
By Kwesi Isles
“Buxtonians, the President is in the house, today is a historic day for Buxton!”
The cry from Chairperson Barbara Thomas-Holder and the resounding cheer that followed rang through the hall of the Buxton Community High School yesterday where President Bharrat Jagdeo met residents for the first time since becoming head of state in 1999.
Jagdeo, who was accompanied by a slew of ministers and other government officials, was recently criticised by some Buxtonians for never visiting their once-volatile community during his years in office. However, while some may have left happy that their concerns would be addressed it was not King Midas descending upon the village as some had hoped, with no multi-million-dollar disbursements being made.
Rather, the president spoke about expanding agriculture assistance for farmers and those willing to venture into the sector and the Women of Worth (WoW) micro-credit scheme for single parents.
Addressing the packed auditorium, Jagdeo said he was there to address practical measures to ensure development in Buxton.
“If you can’t generate employment and economic activity at the village level everything will suffer, everyone will suffer because of the linkages that communities have and people to each other. I don’t want to go back and analyse the past and what happened, that is part of our history now. How do we now move forward in regenerating wealth in this community, economic activity so that the people here can find meaningful employment and solve some of their problems? This is what we have to focus on.”
He said the state was prepared to help young people who wanted to start farming with land clearing and assistance to get the first crop in the ground. Additionally, he noted that the government had a pig breeding programme with imported stock from the US and Suriname which could improve the returns on pig rearing. He also outlined that there was a programme being run with small ruminants.
“You now need to ensure that we can generate enough interest here to take advantage of the help we will extend in these areas to create some economic activity for yourself,” the president said.
On the issue of empowerment Jagdeo stated that they needed to find a way to make the people of the community more marketable and this was being addressed under a national programme for single parents with over 30,000 persons registered. He added that there was also an industrial training programme in which they are now including single parents. There was also the WoW facility which was launched earlier this year with GBTI, he noted.
“You can get a loan of up to $250,000 without collateral at six percent interest rate and we will work with those people who have the loans to give them technical assistance to start businesses.”
The president added that the officers responsible for the programmes will be in the community on Monday to speak with single parents.
“I am committing today to provide all the assistance you need … with the single parents, with the farmers, anyone else who wants to start something positive. We’re going to give the NGOs here some money to start a hot meal programme for some of the most vulnerable kids in school too,” the president announced to applause.
According to Jagdeo, there are many things he is willing to fund but he told the Buxtonians “you have to want this too as badly as we do.”
During a question and answer period a member of the audience called for the reinstatement of a literacy programme which had been in place in the community and assistance with addressing the stigma associated with Buxton.
On the first issue he said that he could examine the programme while noting that he has had discussions on other education initiatives for the community. On the issue of stigma he called on the community to work with the administration.
“We need to collectively work at removing this perception wherever it exists. So whatever programmes the state can assist with, through maybe television and radio, we are prepared to do so but we need to get people from the community themselves to come out and talk about this, talk about the positive things that are happening here,” Jagdeo said.
He noted that it was illegal to discriminate against someone because of where they came from.
Jagdeo also promised to source 20 computers for the community and urged the villagers to establish a mechanism to ensure that everyone benefits from the systems.
Other concerns covered recreational facilities for the village, drainage, road repairs, employment and many personal matters residents sought to have addressed.
But questioned on whether there was a specific long-term development programme for Buxton, Jagdeo responded that the community’s destiny was tied to that of the nation.
“Although you have your own anthem Buxton is part of Guyana too. So your long-term development aspirations are the same as everyone else’s. When I speak about giving 90,000 computers to the poorest families it means poorest families everywhere including Buxton. When I speak about connectivity to families I mean everywhere including Buxton,” Jagdeo stated.
Upon his arrival the president was greeted by drummers pounding out African rhythms and escorted through an aisle of schoolchildren bearing his portrait and garlands.
