The Government through the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development distributed 14 tractors to the 14 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC) in Region Three during a two-day outreach
The tractors, worth over $100 million, were handed over by President Irfaan Ali and are intended to boost works on the ground and are the partial fulfilment of a promise made by the president which also included the handout of subventions for the NDCs. Each NDC received a tractor and a subvention.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony on Friday, Ali noted that the donation is part of a wider vision to develop the region.
He noted that there is a need for development in each region, and the donation of the tractors is a result of the intervention of the ministers who saw the need.
The President pointed out that while there is need for the development of infrastructure and new opportunities for the people of Region Three, there is also need for the development of the environment, which is an initiative he supports fully.
“One of the major irritants across different communities is the environment, cleanliness, and the way we treat the environment and this is not only a NDC or a government function, this is an individual function, how we behave and care for the environment, how we treat the environment, how we discard our garbage. Our own attitude towards the environment is an important aspect”, he said.
The tractors, the president informed, will be used in the communities for garbage collection, transporting materials, patching of roads, among other duties. He also urged those who will be using the RDC’s assets to take care of them.
“I also want to urge the NDC’s and those who will be using these assets to ensure that they do so safely but more importantly that they care these assets.” He also warned that those who fail to do so will be held accountable.
“Many times we have seen NDCs, and government agencies on the whole, not taking the necessary care with the investment the Government is making with their assets and this cannot be allowed to continue. We will have to hold people accountable in the way they utilize government assets”, the President added.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, who also attended the ceremony, remarked that this donation was a pillar to the Governments overall agenda.
“This handing over must be viewed as part of a much larger agenda for transformation of Region Three and for the transformation of Guyana, more broadly”, Singh said
He further noted that this will help push Guyana to the point where everything is modernized.
“It would be the unavoidable conclusion that Region Three in just a couple of years will be unrecognizable; as a modern region, a modern and major centre of economic activities. But, at the same time his Excellency recognized that the local issues need to be fixed; issues like community roads, community drainage and other local problems. And, he committed to ensuring that the local authorities, whether it is NDC’s, or local offices or agencies have the capacity to discharged their responsibility efficiently,” Singh said.
At the outreach, land and National Insurance Scheme issues were at the top of the agenda.
At the end of the two days, close to 5,000 cases were handled, with the hope that all matters will be resolved in the coming months.
