KUDOS to the Guyana Government and the Region 5 Democratic Council for taking the initiative to invest in much needed community development projects in the D’Edward/Cotton Tree areas.

Several roads are currently being resurfaced and new culverts built, much to the satisfaction and delight of the local residence. I was particularly pleased to see the work being done under the close supervision of Region 5 Regional Executive Officer, Mr. Ashford Ambedkar; Regional Vice-Chairman, Mr. Rion Peters; and Mr. Dhanpall Sukha, Regional Engineer, to ensure the work was being done to specification.

The entire road resurfacing and construction project is estimated to cost about G$30 million, and was done in consultation with the residence of these communities, who identified those projects as priorities.
As a new member of the D’Edward community, I took the opportunity to discuss two additional projects that the community can benefit from: A bus shed at the junction of the main road leading to the Berbice Bridge and the road to Rosignol, to protect commuters waiting for transportation to cross over to New Amsterdam from the rain and blistering sun; and the construction of a small park with a few concrete benches and street light close to the water, where students can go to study in tranquility, while their parents enjoy the view and refreshing breeze blowing from the Atlantic.
I was advised that the Mahaica-Mahaicony Authority – MMA has jurisdiction over this area, and I hope to bring this project to fruition with their permission, and with the support of Mr. Ambedkar and his team of professionals at the RDC in Region 5.

Mr. Editor, it is easy for critics of the Administration to overlook progress taking place in small communities such as D’Edward Village and Cotton Tree throughout every region in Guyana. Most are never reported in the media, and we have grown to expect this from a government that is committed to a better standard of living for all Guyanese.
While doing some poll research prior to the 2011 General Election, I vividly recalled the comments made by some residents in the Berbice area, who were solid in their support for the PPP for providing them with electricity and water in villages where there were none during the PNC era.
Indeed, most Guyanese now take the development they see throughout for granted, and the critics would argue that government has nothing to do with the new businesses and Florida-style new homes that are transforming the landscape of Guyana everyday. But what those critics fail to realise, and the Joint Opposition will never admit, is the fact that private sector development can only be achieved through a solid, stable economy that Guyana has now become. Thanks mainly to the brilliance of former Minister of Finance and President, Bharrat Jagdeo, and the current Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, the economy of Guyana was miraculously transformed from a bankrupt state under the PNC in 1992, to the thriving one that all Guyanese benefit from today. Commercial banks and businesses like Courts simply do not give building loans and credit to buy furniture if the economy is bad. Conversely, it is because we’re living in a country with a responsible government and a growing economy that mortgages and store credits are readily availably and vigorously pursued.

Despite some Prophets of Doom, the likes of Freddie Kissoon, a known critic of the Administration, and Abel Seetaram, the AFC Chairman for Region 5 who desperately wants to repeat his party’s vote-haul from the region in the coming election, Berbicians are much better off than ever before.
Over the years, the PPP/C had brought much development to the Ancient County. The health-care service in Berbice is much improved with better and more advanced facilities, equipment and trained local doctors. A new National Ophthalmology Hospital was commissioned in Port Mourant, where I recommend anyone who cannot see real development taking place in Berbice, to have their eyes tested. Our education system is also much improved from the decrepit system inherited from the PNC in 1992: new and improved schools; more trained teachers in the class-rooms; a University of Guyana campus at Tain; a teachers’ training college just to name a few. Berbicians now have much better roads; and yes, they have the Berbice Bridge. And like the rest of Guyana, residents there are experiencing a part of a major housing boom that has seen more Berbicians as homeowners. There is now a ferry service between Guyana and Suriname; electricity in villages that were in darkness under the Burnham and Hoyte Administrations; water supply, drainage and irrigation have been improved, and a new sugar factory was commissioned at Skeldon.
I challenge Abel Seetaram, Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan to name one, just one solitary project that the Alliance for Chance have brought to fruition that have benefited the people of Regions 5 and 6. What has the AFC done for the people in those regions who misguidedly voted for them in 2011? Some Berbicians may have been fooled once, but I will do my part to ensure they’re never fooled again.

HARRY GILL