By Nafeeza Yahya

PRESIDENT David Granger has called the Corentyne in East Berbice “a sleeping giant” which needs to be awakened to realise its full economic potential.“This county of communities has the potential to transform the whole economy. It can lead the economic recovery of the entire country; it can influence the development of the Caribbean community, particularly through CSME [Caribbean Single Market and Economy],” the President said on Saturday at a dinner in East Berbice to promote World Understanding and Peace.

He had made this observation earlier in the day at the commissioning of two 50-seater buses at Rose Hall Town in East Berbice. The buses are to be used to ferry school children in specific areas in that part of the country to and from school.

The dinner at which the President spoke is hosted annually by the Rotary Club of New Amsterdam. It was held at the Caribbean Cusine restaurant at Number Two Village in East Canje.

President Granger, who was the Guest of Honour, touched on a number of perplexing issues that have been uppermost on the minds of just about every Guyanese, but more particularly those in the business community. Among those issues are high-seas piracy; security; suicide; economic development, and national unity.

Speaking of the vast economic potential of Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), President Granger said Berbice has every reason to be regarded as the agriculture heartland of Guyana.
The county boasts three grinding sugar estates, which together contribute to 56 per cent of the country’s overall sugar production; and the largest water-control system in the country, the Black Bush Polder Scheme, is also located in that county.

“There is good reason for the Corentyne to be rich; it should not be poor…,” the President said, and added: “Unfortunately, in many areas of poverty, we have a strong productive base. We have good natural resources; a highly skilled and experienced labour force; vibrant non-governmental organisations like the Rotary; enterprising businesses and Chambers of Commerce; strong potential for continued growth and economic diversification.”

Contending that there’s no earthly reason why the region should not experience high and sustained levels of growth, President Granger said the exact opposite has instead been happening over the last few years.

“In fact, over recent years,” he said, “we find that this region has been the victim of de-population. The population in the Corentyne was over 150,000 in 1980, but by 2012 it declined to about 110,000. The decline in population in 1980 and 1991 was over 6.5 per cent, and in 1991-2012 the decline was over 23 per cent.”

DIVISIVE POLITICS
Asking of no one in particular why people are running away from this great and beautiful region in spite of the Government’s every effort to ensure everyone has a good life, President Granger put it all down to what he called the culture of divisive politics.

“This culture of divisive politics must stop, as it has led to the neglect of this great region, causing it to be in the current state it is,” he said, adding: “Something seems to have been injected into our culture; and over a period of years, that injection has led to a lack of understanding among the people of this region. And that lack of understanding has had a spinoff effect on your development. As a result of this, you find division and neglect, which benefits a few, but the masses suffer, causing an unevenness…. While there are pockets of prosperity, there are also pockets of poverty.”

President Granger noted: “This unevenness causes despair — a sense of alienation; and is manifested in the abuse of narcotics, rise in suicide, rape and high-profile crimes such as piracy, murders and armed robberies across all race and age gaps.

“These are all issues which can be fixed through consultation; not confrontation, but by working together. The children of this region should be happier, more rich, and not be forced to seek greener pastures overseas,” the President asserted.

President Granger proceeded to pledge his Government’s support to working with all to make this region realise its full potential by being smarter, stronger, richer and safer.

“I want to make Corentyne safe; I want to make the fisherfolk safe from piracy; I want to make the businessmen safe from bandits; our women safe from abuse,” he said, and added: “I don’t want the people of the diaspora who want to invest to come back to be killed or shot at. They want to be prosperous and safe…which is why we are spending so much time to strengthen our regions; and security is vital to that economic development.”

Noting that the only way forward is to have better community policing to combat and tackle these issues, he said: “You have to be en-tuned to your community; to hear screams for help and know who is vulnerable to being attacked by some drug-crazed young man. Someone must know; and we need a form of policing that takes preventative action based on this information. We need a form of community policing which combines the interest of the community with regular policing.”

The President said the order had already been given — two days ago at the Police Conference — to the top brass of the Police Force to make it happen.

“The same way we are meeting here and discussing, it’s the same way the divisional commanders will go out into the communities to meet with residents to discuss making the community safer,” President Granger said.