– 27 roads to benefit from rehabilitation
Two months after the first Cabinet outreach for 2010 to Region Ten, President Bharrat Jagdeo accompanied by his entire Cabinet, revisited the region Friday with good news about plans for development.
The return visit is the fulfillment of a promise made by the Head of State and saw a large gathering of residents from Linden and other parts of Region Ten, on the lawns of the Watooka Guest House.
President Jagdeo pointed to a list of projects that would cost close to $300M. These projects are the outcomes of a needs analysis that was undertaken in the region after government ministers had fanned out to various parts of Region Ten on May 22, to listen to the concerns and requests of residents.
Among the projects are the rehabilitation of 27 roads in Linden and another 10 for maintenance at a cost of $235M.
“Within a few weeks time, you will see these projects being implemented,” President Jagdeo assured, reiterating Government’s action oriented approaches to developing Guyana.
“We are talking about close to $300M assigned to this community from the last outreach to now, within one month, so that we can address the concerns,” President Jagdeo said.
The President was more pleased about Friday’s turnout, as against May 22, when miscommunication had resulted in only a small group of persons from the Region in attendance.
He reiterated the policy of his government of ensuring that leaders are accessible to as many Guyanese as possible so that there is a complete understanding of issues and a diligent effort to resolve them.
“Sometimes we don’t have all of the resources to address all of your problems, but at least we can guarantee you that we will keep our ears open. We will always remain concerned about people’s issues and open to suggestions and developmental needs,” President Jagdeo said.
Over $300M was spent in Linden to create employment opportunities for 600 persons through the Community Development Council (CDC) and Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) programme.
Additionally, entrepreneurship was encouraged in the town when the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) was initiated.
Mining has been the backbone of the town and has traditionally been contributing significantly to Guyana’s economy, but President Jagdeo said traditional sectors will not remain as leading sectors for the future.
He identified the opening up of the Rupununi for large scale agriculture, Informational Communication Technology (ICT), eco-tourism and the Low Carbon Development Strategy as sectors with high prospects.
The progress which President Jagdeo said Guyana is making should be acknowledged by all and serve as motivation for others to join in advancing.
He believes, however, that this task cannot be accomplished if persons are still trapped in the kind of old politics that was responsible for Guyana being in an impasse, such as ethnic and gender based discrimination and underdevelopment.
“It is important that every one of you understand where we want to take Guyana, because you, your children and grandchildren, have to be part of that process. We are doing this all for the next generation,” President Jagdeo said.
Having overcome the hurdle of debt by repaying US$1.5B within the last five years, President Jagdeo said there is now much more room in the economy to produce and create opportunities for every family to gain wealth.
He alluded to the housing sector where Government initiated the process of making more house lots available and a special tax concession arrangement at banks where no corporate tax is charged to loan applicants. Through this process, interest rates are reduced to as much as five percent for mortgages.
To date, 75,000 low income house lots have been given out and government is aiming to distribute another 40,000.
President Jagdeo believes that this achievement is worth boasting about.
“We started off from zero. There was not a Housing Ministry, interest rates at the bank were 38 percent, and there was no land development scheme… the reason we did this is not just to better house our people, but every time someone owns a piece of land, it makes a big difference in their lives. They have a base to start accumulating wealth,” President Jagdeo said. (GINA)