MINISTER of Labour, Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul, has told residents of Queenstown on the Essequibo Coast at a public meeting that the mission of the PPP/C is to continue along the development path and ensure that there are no obstacles to progress.The minister, who was the final speaker at the meeting, called on residents to vote for progress which is the PPP/C, so as to ensure development continues across the country for the next five years. He said the only alternative is the PPP/C.
Minister Gopaul in a blistering attack on the PNC, which is now posing as APNU, said the country which was under PNC rule by fraudulent elections for 28 years was devastated, everything was down. He said sugar was at its lowest level, the bauxite industry had collapsed and the rice industry was on its knees. There were severe food shortages and blackouts were the order of the day.
According to the minister, when the PPP/C took the reins of power after winning the national and regional elections on 5th October, 1992, it started to rebuild the country under the leadership of the great Dr Cheddi Jagan. Minister Gopaul said the rice industry has rebounded because of the government’s prudent management of the economy and massive investments in the rice industry to give farmers efficient drainage and irrigation networks, concrete culverts, revetments, bridges, technical advice and training via the farmers’ field school. He said with regard to bauxite, the industry is making good progress and only recently a new mine was commissioned. According to the minister, there is great progress in every area across the country and development is evident.
Minister Gopaul said the PPP/C’s vision is to have all infrastructural work completed by the end of 2015, when lights would have been installed along the roadways from Georgetown to Crabwood Creek, Georgetown to Parika and Supenaam to Charity. He said the plans were disrupted after the 2011 elections when the APNU and AFC combined their seats in Parliament and got a one- seat majority over the Government. The minister said over the last three years not a single project proposed by the PPP/C had the support of the two opposition parties. He said the AFC went on a crusade to stagnate development of the country. According to the minister, despite the negative moves by the opposition, the country has still moved on.
BRIDGES AND HYDRO POWER
He said the PPP/C government built the bridge across the Berbice river and will build another bridge across the Corentyne river to link Guyana with Suriname. According to the minister, the two opposition parties voted down Guyana’s flagship hydro power project in parliament, but the PPP/C will ensure that the project comes back on stream. He said the project will create direct employment for some 25,000 persons within two years and a smelter will be set up for the bauxite industry. He also said that major Guyanese projects will also come on stream.
Minister Gopaul said the APNU and AFC have also blocked the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan Airport and the Specialty Hospital, but warned that Mr Ramjattan and company cannot stop the development of the country. He asserted that Guyana has moved from a poor nation in October, 1992 to a prosperous and developing one 22 years later.
Other speakers at the public meeting included former MPs Mr Cornel Damon and Mr Farouk Khan. A large crowd attended the meeting.