APNU leader David Granger on Sunday outlined a post-PPP/C economic recovery programme for riverine farming communities in Region Two, while blaming the current administration for gross mismanagement and underdevelopment in the area.
At a rally at the Charity market waterfront, Essequibo Coast on Sunday, Granger told residents APNU plans to introduce a hinterland economic recovery plan that will revitalise Pomeroon-Supenaam’s farming communities. He denounced the decline in these areas under the PPP/C-controlled Regional Demo-cratic Council and the neglect of the community itself by the dysfunctional Charity-Urasara Neighbourhood Democratic Council, a statement from the coalition said.
Farming is the backbone of the sub-region’s economy but residents are hampered by the high cost of transportation by boat to the main market at Charity. The mostly Amerindian residents are forced to overnight in “rough” conditions at the waterfront to sell their produce. “Production costs are also high, commodity prices low, sales are uncertain and competition from contraband foreign-manufactured goods is driving local goods off the market,” APNU said.
Riverine farms also flood frequently as central government has failed to dredge the mouth of the Pomeroon River; forcing families to flee from the villages to the Essequibo Coast to seek new livelihoods. “Charity, itself, is an unsightly mess. The place is littered with garbage, streets are congested and traffic is chaotic,” it added.
Granger accused the PPP/C administration of “gross mismanagement” and a lack of “vision to develop the community, which has the potential to be a profitable commodity market and an export platform for farm produce.”
He was accompanied by a team of MPs and Regional Democratic Council (RDC) councillors, including MPs Dr George Norton and Renita Williams and regional members Wazir Latiff and Takechand Ramnauth.
Norton urged Charity and other residents of riverine areas to be prudent when voting. “Be wise my comrades. Know where you are placing your ‘X.’ The APNU would like to see your lives improved. We want to make things better,” he said.
In reference to the high cost of living, Norton noted that some persons employed at the Office of the President receive super salaries, with some as high as $1 million per month, “while a trained teacher is not getting more than $50,000. That is not right. Think about the past president. He continues to get his $3M a month. He continues to reap all the benefits that were passed along.
He even had a special jet to take him out of the country when he had a bout of diarrhoea while you don’t even have an ambulance here in the river to take you to Suddie, much less to Georgetown. How can that be fair? The PPP government comes around in the hinterland locations saying so many evil things about the opposition; about how we are cutting the budget and preventing development. My comrades, the opposition is not doing that. We know the needs of the people and we are aiming to provide these needs.”
At the close of the meeting, Granger thanked the residents for their support at the elections. “…That support that you give to APNU will empower you to bring about change in Charity and the Pomeroon Sub-region. Yesterday, we spent all day in Wakapau and the lesson that we learned in Wakapau are applicable to the other Regions. We are talking about empowerment because you can empower yourselves for the first time in 22 years,” he said.
According to Granger, “The PPP has never been so afraid of the residents of Charity and Pomeroon-Supenaam when the people came out in their numbers on the 28th of November, 2011 and gave the APNU and AFC 175,000 votes.
We are the majority of democratic people in the Republic of Guyana and the PPP dictatorship will come to an end on the 11th of May, 2015, when the people of Pomeroon-Supenaam go out to vote for the APNU and [the] pre-election coalition….”
At Wakapau, residents complained that they were challenged by the high transportation costs and the high cost of living. They are also concerned about truancy at both the primary and secondary levels. It was noted that they had been forced recently to close the Mabel Sandy Primary School, further exacerbating the truancy problem.
Wakapau is a multi-island settlement that can only be accessed by boat. Farming is the main source of the income in the area, which is severely hampered by the high cost of transporting produce to the main market at Charity
Household energy is provided by solar panels, which are unreliable and insufficient, particularly for agro-processing and other industries. Further, employment opportunities for young people are scarce.
Granger told the community that APNU had a five-point plan that includes reversing education decline, reopening avenues for employment, promoting ‘green’ energy generation, developing local enterprise and empowering communities by installing a friendly RDC in Anna Regina after the elections. He said the PPP administration had “deliberately” under-developed the hinterland community by not building vital infrastructure and by restricting the provision of vital public services thereby keeping villages “perpetually on life support.” However, he said APNU is committed to ensure that the villagers of Pomeroon are given the opportunity to have a better life.
