ON JANUARY 12, residents across Region Six, from New Amsterdam to Crabwood Creek, were paid a visit by the chief officials of all Government ministries, as well as technical and support staff of the Guyana Water Incorporated, the Ministries of Agriculture, and Human Services and Social Security, and officers of the Guyana Police Force Traffic Division.
The process was undertaken again on May 22, in Region Ten, when President Jagdeo led ministers into the nine wards of Linden and the hinterland communities, and Amerindian reservations, including Hururu, Great Falls and Rockstone, among others.
The Cabinet Outreach process is one that finds its genesis in Government’s commitment to facilitate an environment nationwide, whereby all Guyanese — elected officials, teachers, parents and the community — work together in a holistic approach to ensure that every child can optimize his/her potential to the maximum, and to ensure that the people are benefitting from the inputs that Government has been making into developmental initiatives countrywide, with a view to enhancing and expanding services and programmes that would create synergies to promote the wellness and wellbeing of all Guyanese in equitable terms, irrespective of their social or financial status.
As Gail Teixeira explained, PPP outreaches have their genesis in the early years of struggle, when meeting the people under ‘bottom-houses’, where word-of-mouth communication was the only means of taking the freedom struggle to the various communities in the country.
There have been many deleterious effects, from erratic weather patterns resulting from climate change, not least the flash floods that have been decimating crops and livestock, undermining and destroying infrastructure – private and public, nationwide, creating havoc in the lives of ordinary Guyanese, and causing the Government to divert funds and resources from planned programmes in re-directed initiatives to address the problems with urgency and immediacy.
And while the Administration has spared no effort to mitigate, as far as possible within national resource constraints, the sometimes very damaging effects of the changing and unpredictable weather patterns, it is indeed heartening to see that the people have been attempting to assist themselves in various ways, often partnering with Government officials and assistance groups to devise ways to adapt to their restructured environments – at least temporarily until more effective and durable solutions can be found.
Of course, there are those who can do nothing else but complain and cast blame;  but most Guyanese recognize that our nation is facing critical times, albeit in not measure comparable to our neighbours – Haiti, for instance, and other countries that are facing the brunt of hurricanes and other catastrophic occurrences that take overwhelming numbers of lives and cause real and irreparable destruction to infrastructure.
As a nation we need to live up to our motto and recognize that we are indeed a blessed country where, if we work together we can overcome the problems that beset us, and even transcend the effects to create better lives and a better future for generations to come; as our ancestors have done before us.