-1,500 mining jobs to be created
The government has unveiled a plan that would make Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), the prime producer of goods and services for hinterland development.
This disclosure was made by President Irfaan Ali during a meeting yesterday with residents at the Bartica Community ground, a release from the Office of the President stated.
“Region Seven, we want to see how we can invest in the economy here that will position the region to be the prime producer of goods and services for hinterland development”, he said.
Ali said that this was part of the government’s nationwide economic development plan for every region. The plans for Region Seven, he noted, include employment and training for workers in the operation of two large mines which are expected to come on stream later this year. Residents will also benefit from continuous agricultural interventions to support the country’s self-sufficiency and food production drives.
The two new mines, Ali said, will generate more than seven hundred job opportunities in its operational phase and will require over 1,500 workers in its construction phase. He disclosed that with this demand, the mining companies will be providing training.
“I think they’re already in discussion with the mayor. They are in discussion with different stakeholders here, and those training programmes will start very soon. So these are things that we are working on so that we can expeditiously move towards the operationalising of those large scale mines, and the full time employment of persons.”
The President also mentioned the possibility of establishing a call centre in the township of Bartica to generate further employment in the region.
“I’m going to ask the technical staff to look at the feasibility of establishing a call centre, ensuring that we have enough persons to be employed because one of the things is that when we are looking for labour, the labour is in very short supply across our country.”
The President noted that through the support of transformative infrastructure, which includes the road network from Timehri, which will pass through Sand Hill, “tremendous” economic and tourism opportunities will be created for the region. “We are going to continue to make these investments to ensure that the people of this region continue to benefit from the investments we are making,” he said while highlighting that over $13 billion has been spent in the region to improve livelihoods.
Agricultural initiatives
The government also plans boost food production in the region and according to the President, plans are on stream for the investment of hives to boost honey production in the country. “In this region, you will have between 400 to 500 new hives when you look at all the communities we are going to support.” He pointed out that there is already a market for honey produced from communities across the country. In addition, he explained that the government will also support large-scale citrus farming and high-yielding crops in the region.
“We have also identified areas through which we want to expand citrus farming in this region. We are working on expanding the sweet cassava program, looking at high-yielding variety so we can put the land to productive use,” he added.
Turning his attention to health, the Head of State disclosed that the government will soon commence works on a modern hospital in Bartica. In addition, he announced that the Ministry of Health will conduct an outreach in the township next Friday with the objective of identifying persons with surgical, ophthalmology and oncology needs and scheduling necessary medical treatment.
“Anyone in need of surgery, we will identify you, and we’ll take you…to have the surgery completed. For any woman who is on a waiting list or has not had a date scheduled for them as yet for fibroid surgery, we’re going to get that list and ensure that you get the surgery well in advance because this is something we want to bring to a complete end…”
Meanwhile, several residents raised concerns about issues related to land, and in response, President Ali committed to having a team from the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission visit the region in the new week to address those existing issues.
“We have to fix the issues, fix the problem because, at the end of the day, we want the people to have the best service that they can have,” Ali said.
