…Irfaan Ali tells Annai residents

PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party, Irfaan Ali, on Monday declared that if he “is a rubber stamp, the whole PPP family is a rubber stamp too.”
Ali was at the time addressing a meeting at Annai, Region Nine. His meeting fell on the same day government ministers wrapped up a three-day outreach in the Rupununi. Ali spoke about several issues during his meeting, but during the question and answer segment, Councillor of Annai Central, Michael Williams, stood up and bluntly asked Ali to respond to comments that he was a rubber stamp. “Mr Ali are you a rubber stamp?”
Ali responded promptly “I am part of the PPP family, so if I am a rubber stamp the whole PPP family is a rubber stamp too.”

Grassroots supporters of the PPP had expressed outrage over the selection of Ali as the party’s presidential candidate, and even called the ex-government minister, who is facing some 19 fraud charges in court, to step down, contending that his ‘baggage’ will ‘sink’ the party’s chances at General and Regional Elections. Moments after it was confirmed that Ali was elected PPP presidential candidate over former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, supporters expressed profound disappointment as they flooded the Internet to register their concerns. They had blamed Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, for orchestrating the selection of Ali. Ali is on record pledging allegiance to Jagdeo.

On Facebook, Naresh Singh, a known supporter of the PPP, had said that he no longer has faith in Guyanese politics. “Can you imagine Irfaan Ali being PPP presidential candidate??? Like damn!!! Seriously!!!”. Those were the immediate thoughts of Singh as he made a bold call for Ali to step down in an effort to increase PPP’s chances of winning the elections. In response to the Facebook post made by Singh, Jaipaul Persaud said: “Do you see what I see? This is the end of the PPP/C. I am in a state of shock. I never voted in Guyana but I feel sorry for the PPP/C supporters.” Celrose Caravaio, a relative of the former Minister of Local Government under the PPP regime, Norman Whittaker, questioned why Ali was elected over former Culture and Sport Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony and other candidates who have cleaner slates. The Government of Canada also recently told Ali not to travel to that country due to the fraud charges.

ALI ON PRESIDENTIAL GRANT

Meanwhile, in his presentation at the meeting, Ali erroneously told residents that the coalition government had stopped giving out presidential grants. However, a few minutes before his meeting, Adviser to the Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Mervyn Williams, handed over a cheque of $1M to Senior Councillor of Annai Central, Zita Enrico, for the rehabilitation of the village’s restaurant. The money is part of the presidential grant to the community. Besides, on Saturday, Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, handed over another cheque to residents of Rupertee village in the North Rupununi for some $800,000. Councillor Suresh Andries received the village’s presidential grant of $800,000 for 2019. The money is part of the $235M Presidential Grant Fund for 2019 and the village is among the very first to receive its allocated sum.

When the proposal was submitted last year, the money from the grant was to be used to improve water storage and distribution in the village. However, the councillor of the village explained that on Friday, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Dr. Richard Van-West Charles and a technical team visited the village. During that visit, the GWI team made a commitment to address the water-storage and distribution issue. It means that the residents can now utilise their presidential grant on another project which will enhance village life.

In this regard, residents will meet shortly and according to Andries, they will have to collectively decide how the $800,000 grant will be utilised, given the unexpected intervention of the GWI. Presidential grants are issued through the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and are between $500,000 and $2M. The grants are geared towards boosting economic and social development for Indigenous peoples in their villages and communities. More importantly, the grants are awarded on the basis of population size and are also based on requests and proposals submitted by the respective villages.
Several hundred villages and satellite communities benefit from the annual initiative, which saw some $215M distributed in 2017, following from $280M which was distributed in 2016, the year in which Guyana celebrated its 50th independence anniversary. Villages use the funds for various projects, including the upgrading of sport facilities, supporting women-groups’ initiatives, construction and expansion of village benabs and hostels, among others. Almost $1B has been allocated to the Presidential Grant Fund initiative from 2016 to present.