PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar last evening told Alexander Village residents, “I do not want to be President if I cannot do things to uplift the welfare of my people.”Speaking to the very large crowd that gathered at Third and Cross Streets in the village, he said over the last three years the Opposition had stifled development in the country. “Some $89B was cut from the budget in very important areas that were allocated to be spent to improve the welfare of the people. They set out to deliberately damage Guyana,” he said.

He continued to list benefits to be had from the Amaila Falls Hydro Project, and declared that this project was vital for the rapid growth of our economy and further development of Guyana. He said that with the return of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, the hydro project would be high on the administration’s agenda.
The Head of State noted that in all aspects of this project, “We will create new jobs. we will not be a Third World country that is short of investments, where we will have cheap labour; but we will be able to attract the high-end investments because we will have a highly educated population (that is) capable of handling sophisticated equipment.”
President Ramotar noted that one major project that seeks to improve further the lifestyle of Guyanese through the development of the Tourism Sector is the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
“In the 2013 budget the Opposition voted for the new airport and we started to build; and in 2014 they voted against giving the money for airport expansion”, he noted. The President also spoke at length on the consequences the country will face because of the non-passage of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Bill; he explained that the only people set to benefit from the non-passage of the bill were the criminals who are friends of the Opposition.
“The international community can blacklist your financial institutions. It is not accidental that they voted against the AML Bill because they have long standing relationship with criminals. These people do not care for development they only seek power. I do not want to be President if I cannot do things to uplift the welfare of my people,” he said.
President Ramotar noted that this is why “we have been investing in our people! We are the only country in the Region where more than 30% of our budget goes to the social sector — to education, health, housing and water.”
President Ramotar highlighted all the achievements of the education sector, noting the recent $10,000 per child programme and the ongoing hot meals programme. He also noted the free textbook and exercise book distribution and the school uniform vouchers. These programmes, he said, were all implemented to assist parents in having their children remain in school so that Guyana’s population would be an educated one.
He reassured farmers too that, under this Government, they will continue to benefit from a higher quality of life. “Not only will we continue to provide the social services for you and your children, but for the sugar industry as well — the industry that has been responsible for having all our people here. We will ensure the survival of this industry, and, over the next five years, we will invest a minimum of $20B for its survival.”
President Ramotar also disclosed plans for the rice industry. He noted: “We have not forgotten you, but have been fighting for you all along. We will continue to search for higher paying markets for our rice; we will work to create a system of price support to ensure our farmers have a more predictable and better standard of living,” he said.
He also spoke on the critical importance and absolute imperative of the Specialty Hospital, and how vital it is for the Guyanese people.
The President noted too that “very soon I will be visiting the rig on our shores and Guyana will very soon be an oil and gas producing country. We are preparing our people for this by providing them with access to technical education.”
“We in the PPP/C have been standing by you all these years, Stand by the PPP/C, and stand by me and let’s return the PPP/C to a majority Government,” President Ramotar urged his supporters.

By Rebecca Ganesh