Issues such as poor drainage, difficulty acquiring land titles and labour concerns were raised at two community meetings hosted by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday.
Jagdeo was on a two-day visit to the Pomeroon-Supenaam district in Region Two. During the meetings residents raised the issue of poor drainage in their area and complained that despite reaching out to the Annandale/Riverstown Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the situation remains unresolved.
At the Johanna Cecilia meeting, residents there called for improved drainage and the upgrade of several access dams, noting that the dams in the area were in a deplorable condition. They also requested street lights in the area.
In response, the Vice President acknowledged that the region did have a backlog of unresolved issues, some of which were inherited from the previous government. He subsequently tasked the regional team to be more aware of what was happening on the ground and to reach out to the people.
“The region now has to do much more work from now and schedule meetings regularly so when we come here we don’t have to deal with routine matters,” Jagdeo reprimanded.
He assured residents that the regional administration and the NDC will be on the ground to work with them in resolving their issues.
Addressing the gatherings at Pomona and Johanna Cecilia, Jagdeo remarked that Guyanese are living in a time where the cost of living is rising and in response the government has put aside $5 billion to address this issue. Further, the government will subsidise water and electricity in Guyana so that residents are not burdened with the additional costs.
“There is even a shortage of garlic, we are trying to get basic stuff people have stopped producing worldwide due to the pandemic, we have a while to deal with this… in the meantime we are talking with farmers to assist” Jagdeo informed.
Co- invest
The Vice-President also disclosed that the government has set aside money to co-invest with investors who are interested in establishing businesses in Region Two. The government, he said, will build the buildings and also train staff members. “We have to make it attractive for investors, we will have to subsidise it in order for the jobs to come here.”
During the meeting, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister within the Ministry of Housing, Susan Rodrigues; and Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, met with the residents and addressed issues relating to their respective ministries.
