Aiming to improve the services provided to residents, Region Four’s Chairman Daniel Seeram on Thursday met with the heads of the United States and Canadian missions here for talks on possible areas of collaboration.
Discussions centred on urban planning, public health, education, infrastructure and education and training, to which he said US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch and Canadian High Commissioner, Mark Berman agreed to give their support.
“The meetings were aimed at fostering better relations between the embassies and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Demerara-Mahaica (Region No.4), and to discuss areas of mutual interest in relation to improving the livelihood of residents of the region,” Seeram said on his Facebook page.
In brief statements, the Canadian High Commission and the US Embassy said they were delighted to host Seeram and engage in discussions that can soon materialize into fruitful partnerships.
The Canadian High Commissioner and his team informed Seeram of the mission’s ongoing projects and opportunities through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. The Canadian High Commission said that both parties agreed to follow up discussions on how to move forward.
Seeram said the meetings were an initiative his council agreed on to make it proactive. He stated that his council is serious about developing the services they deliver to the citizens and in light of that they have planned a series of consultations with stakeholders to strengthen their relations and plans for the future.
Such engagements, he said are necessary to advance development in the region which has become the economic hub of the country.
“The Ambassador hosted Region Four Chairman Daniel Seeram at the U.S. Embassy to discuss potential collaboration on key priorities… The U.S. Embassy looks forward to working with regional leadership to advance these shared goals,” the US Embassy said on their Facebook page about the meeting.
Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday, the Regional Chair said that while this was just an initial meeting, there will be follow-ups as they continue to discuss ways and means in which the missions can assist.
He noted that at this level, he and his council will have to sit and discuss the priority areas to work on.
“We have to have that discussion on what are the priority areas and where we want to see development taking place. At this stage, we have to conduct assessments to determine what projects we can propose. We don’t have a timeline as yet but hopefully within a month we are able to have a vision of the projects we can collaborate on,” Seeram said.
Optimistic about the collaborations, the Regional Chair said he hopes by the end of the year they will have some projects being implemented.
“It is quite necessary that we be in a position to help Neighbourhood Demo-cratic Councils (NDCs) to advance their mandate and provide services that will suit their communities… we have asked for assistance in Urban Planning and this will benefit NDCs. We have also asked for assistance in Disaster Risk Management because we have faced two disasters in the past year and if we are thinking of the future this is critical in development,” Seeram expanded.
Additionally, he said that at the top of the region’s agenda is developing the drainage and irrigation infrastructure and this is an area, it will be consulting with central government on.
He added that the APNU+AFC-led region is also looking at developing youth-driven programmes and tapping into entrepreneurship to help small businesses recover from the post COVID-19 era.
