Masakenari, a Wai Wai village in the deep south of Guyana now has an internet connection after complaining about the difficulty in communicating with the rest of the country.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday said that Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock who led a needs assessment team to the area said that the team was immediately able to remedy the communication divide and Masakenari is now equipped with computers and an internet connection.
Allicock’s visit was a follow-up to a meeting the Masakenari and Parabara village leaders had with President David Granger in Georgetown last month. Several issues affecting residents related to education, health, infrastructure, security and communication were raised at that meeting, GINA said.
Allicock told GINA that there will be a follow-up visit to Masakenari shortly and eight more computers will be installed at the computer hub. These devices will be used to assist in the community’s daily business, he said.
Allicock said that the team had a lengthy discussion with the residents of Masakenari on the health situation. Director of Regional Health Services, Dr. Kay Shako said she would recommend that a medex be transferred to Masakenari. She said that the medex would also serve the nearby village of Parabara.
Allicock said the residents have committed to providing the facilities to accommodate the medex.
Interested residents were advised to apply to train as health workers.
The residents also asked for trained teachers in Masakenari, to prepare Grade Six students to sit their National Grade Six Assessment examination within the area. GINA said that they also sought the development of a secondary department in the primary school, since it was very costly to send the children to Aishalton to access secondary education.
Allicock said that he will be engaging the Ministry of Education to discuss what can be done to remedy the situation.
The Ministry of Agriculture promised support for agriculture ventures, since the community has lands to venture into large scale farming.
The residents were also briefed on the opportunities that can be developed through agriculture in that area.
Representatives from the Guyana Water Incorporated and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, and other members of the team visited Parabara to assess the roads and water situation. It was reported that the road from Masakenari to Parabara was in a deplorable state, GINA said.
