HUNDREDS of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) residents highlighted concerns and received solutions to many of their issues at the government’s multi-ministry outreach to the region on Sunday.

The event took place at the Leonora Track and Field Centre and saw persons receiving support in the areas of agriculture, housing, community issues, and more on Sunday.
Several ministers and residents spoke with this newspaper, which closely followed the day’s events which ended with community outreaches to over 12 villages in the region.

In a comment to this newspaper, Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, said that some of the main issues he had tackled so far related to local government and housing.
Regarding the latter, Bulkan said that the government, through its agencies, is looking to open some 200 acres of land in Meten-Meer-Zorg, which will yield some 700 new house lots.

Through the outreach, he said that the ministry will be better able to assess the region’s housing needs.

“What this exercise will allow us to do, is to have a more accurate assessment of the unfulfilled demand and be able to inform central government as to the interventions that are necessary with regards to the development of new housing schemes,” he said.
Meanwhile, regarding local government issues, Bulkan said that persons who are unsatisfied with the level of services being provided at their Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) were given a listening ear.

The ministry will now engage and follow up with the highlighted NDCs to pinpoint the hindrances to addressing long-standing grievances.

The ministry was also supported by the presence of senior management officials of the Local Government Department; the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI); the Solid Waste and Sanitation Department and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

“We are pleased with the level of representation on the part of residents in this region and we look forward to being of service to them,” Bulkan stated.

Speaking to this newspaper at his booth, Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder, said that the region is the largest when it comes to agro and traditional crops.

Through his interactions with the residents and the ministry’s own investigation, he was pleased that the paddy bug infestation in the region is relatively low.
He also noted that the agro-industry has been attracting a number of former employees of the Wales Estate.

Some of the issues highlighted to him came from farmers experiencing water issues coming out the El Niño period.

“We’ll be looking at how we can assist such areas like that,” Holder said.
Just outside the booth, a group of pensioners from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), who purchased land from the company since 2002, told this newspaper that they are still awaiting the land titles.

They came to the outreach in hopes of receiving a fix to the almost-two-decades-old issue.
They spoke to Junior Finance Minister, Jaipaul Sharma, and representatives at the Ministry of Agriculture.

“It’s a sugar welfare problem so the Ministry of Agriculture will deal with it and we think we’re going somewhere,” Alwyn Bisram said.
Ronald Pinder, another in the group, explained that there are over 60 persons affected by the same matter.

The Ministry of Agriculture was assisted by head representatives from the National Agricultural Research and Extension institute (NAREI), Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA).

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, told the newspaper that the main issue brought to him by residents related to street lighting.

He said that soon new LED highway lights will be rolled out from Wales to Parika while, in collaboration with the RDCs and NDCs, the ministry will seek to facilitate community street lighting.

Patterson said that due to the ministry’s consistent efforts at road construction and repair in the region, only a small number of persons came with road related concerns.
However, persons made the request for upgrades to farm-to-market roads in the agriculture region.

“[With respect to] cash crop farmers, I will have to meet with the Ministry of Agriculture to find out if we can assist in trying to upgrade some of their farm-to-market roads so that they can better access [their farms] before the rainy season starts in a month’s time. We don’t normally do that but I can see the benefits,” the minister said.
He also made an on-the-spot commitment to visit Leguan Island in May to address the issues of residents living there.

Over at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Minister Raphael Trotman said that while the region is more inclined to agriculture, some persons reached out to him about forestry related issues.

The next government outreach will be held on Tuesday in Linden and this is where Trotman expects more natural resources issues to be brought to the fore.
“When we go to Linden, I expect a lot of mining matters to be raised [in addition to] forestry,” he said, commenting further:

“I’m happy with the turnout. I think it’s good. People seem to be comfortable, relaxed and moving from booth to booth, meeting with ministers and different agencies which is a good sign.”

At the Ministry of Public Security, residents lobbied for increased police patrol in their areas which saw Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, pledging efforts towards this cause.

Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Adele Clarke, tackled requests for teaching jobs and addressed the need for special focus on slow learners and additional counsellors in schools.

In health, Junior Minister of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, also spoke with residents, mainly youths, on jobs available within the health sector.
At his booth, Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix, stated that his ministry will ensure that all Guyanese are registered at birth.

Meanwhile, Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. George Norton, informed residents about the Anti-Harassment Statement which speaks to human rights which much be respected.

Some of the other opportunities advertised by the ministry included the Youth Innovation project allocated some $70M worth of grants for 2019; the Youth Entrepreneurship Skills Training Programme and the President Youth Award Programme.

Assistant Director of Youth, Leslyn Boyce, said: “A number of persons do not know of our programmes…when we share what are the programmes and the activities we are offering we more or less bring some form of hope to these young people.”

Meanwhile, newly-appointed Minister of State, Dawn Hasting-Williams, told the media that one of main concerns expressed was the need for duty-free concessions.
She also looked into National Insurance Scheme (NIS) related matters and noted that she was pleased with the large turnout of residents.

Summing up the entire experience, Hasting-Williams said: “Irrespective of your political affiliation, we’re a government for all and we want to offer a good life to all Guyanese.”