President Jagdeo assures…
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has assured that the Linden community and Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Berbice), as a whole, hold a very special place in the development of this country.

QUOTE:‘There are several growth poles around the country and around sectors but one of these growth poles could be the integration of these two States in Brazil with Guyana, through a series of infrastructure – hydropower, sale of electricity, fibre optic cables, road and port development – and all of this development will flow through Linden and would be of significant benefit to the communities here…and it is hoped that next year will see a couple of wells being sunk for oil and gas, using maybe in excess of US$100M for drilling activities.’ – President Jagdeo

He gave the assurance Wednesday at the official commissioning of the new state-of-the-art $1.8 million Linden Hospital Complex, in Watooka.

Outlining some developments and challenges faced, the Head of State told Lindeners the Government will continue to focus on such things because they are important for the future.

“We have had difficulties here and one of the casualties of the investment programme has been the alumina plant. We just signed up a US$1 billion deal, the largest single investment in the history of our country, with a Chinese company, to build an alumina plant here, that would have created thousands of jobs and then the global financial crisis hit and we lost quite a few of these investments. As the crisis abates, we have to return to this,” he said.

President Jagdeo said, at the recent opening of Takutu River Bridge, as a result of discussions with Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and several others from the State of Roraima and Amazonas, the parties are working towards creating a new growth pole.

“There are several growth poles around the country and around sectors but one of these growth poles could be the integration of these two States in Brazil with Guyana, through a series of infrastructure, hydropower, sale of electricity, fibre optic cables, road and port development, all of this development will flow through Linden and would be of significant benefit to these communities here, because they would require a whole range of spinoff services to make that kind of thing work,” he explained.

QUOTE:‘A country is like a big ship and you can’t turn it around immediately because it will just topple over. But if you look at the direction, since 1992, that we have been turning the ship towards, you will see it is all turned towards more sustainable management of the finances of this country, better services to our people and the creation of more opportunities so that our young people can find sectors that would be sustainable in the future around which they can build their own futures…’ – Presiedent Jagdeo

President Jagdeo said it is hoped that next year will see a couple of wells being sunk for oil and gas, using maybe in excess of US$100M for drilling activities.

POTENTIAL
He also reminded that trading of forest carbon has the potential of generating hundreds of millions of US dollars annually for this country.

“These are all sectors of the future and we all have to work to make them happen because, if we can bolster the long term future of our country and secure these sectors, then spending for health care can increase and spending for the facilities that we are building now can be secured,” President Jagdeo said.

He continued: “If our economy becomes stagnant, if we are visionless and we don’t work today for the sectors of the future, then what will happen is that we will have a peak when things are going well and then we will suffer a reversal of welfare when our fortunes change, because we simply would not be able to sustain them.

“So, the national plans that I speak of, the plans that cover all the sectors, they are working towards ensuring that we have a progressive growth, that we add and accumulate wealth in this country at the national and private level and year after year seek to expand services to our people,” President Jagdeo elaborated.

About the Government’s commitment to Linden, he said it includes expenditure in the education sector and some $2 billion a year to subsidise electricity in that community.

It also entails investment in housing, apprenticeship programmes and development of Information Communication Technology (ICT), which are all part of what is planned for the area, particularly the Linden community.

Alluding to criticism about neglect of the Region, President Jagdeo urged the critics to go into the Parliament and look at all the estimates of expenditure over the past ten years for Region Ten and the other regions of the country.

He said, on a per capital basis, Regions One (Barima/Waini), Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) and Ten, expenditure and increase in expenses far exceed the other regions.

BELONGS
“And those other regions are regions that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) won. So, you can do a very objective process and I say to people: look at that because, in my government, in the PPP/C Government, we campaign at election time but, after election time, the Government belongs to all of the people and all the regions,” President Jagdeo maintained.

He said the Administration has to ensure that development takes place right across the country and there is no question about where expenditure should go.

“Our budgetary allocation should go where there are the greatest needs and that is the principle we use to allocate money in our country,” the President asserted.

He thanked all of those who work on the hospital project, telling them: “What we are doing here is important for our people in Linden and the neighbouring areas, because this hospital is going to serve a wider area and would be important as we develop our relationship with Brazil.

“I am committed to its success as we are committed to the constant improvement of this community,” he pledged, acknowledging that there always would be difficulties in a small country trying to make a transition.

“A country is like a big ship and you can’t turn it around immediately because it will just topple over. But, if you look at the direction, since 1992, that we have been turning the ship towards, you will see it is all turned towards more sustainable management of the finances of this country, better services to our people and the creation of more opportunities, so that our young people can find sectors that would be sustainable in the future around which they can build their own futures,” he concluded.