– village holds first Indaba
To further enhance community development which plays a pivotal role in the development of a country, scores of Victorians inclusive of those from the Diaspora, assembled at the Victoria Nursery School on Thursday for the first village Indaba. The event was attended by representatives from development agencies, Government officials, Members of the Opposition, Regional officials and residents of the community and the Diaspora. It was held under the theme “Imagining, involving and investing in our future”.
Indaba is a Zulu word used to describe gathering for purposeful discussion to resolve major issues that might arise within a village situation. In this case it sought to explore ways of restoring the village’s historical landmark.
Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud while delivering remarks, commended the organisers for the event; and noted that such an initiative can be replicated across the country.
He further added that developing; transforming and creating a country for the benefit of all Guyanese begin at the village level.
“Every single village in this county deserves equal attention for the realisation of its true potential and our government, we have made that as a priority and we make no apologies for that,” he said.
He suggested that people leading the development of a community wouldn’t be considered as a burden; and emphasised the administration’s willingness to provide the necessary resources for its further development.
Reflecting on the village’s history, he reminded the gathering that the village had been deliberately flooded by the plantation owners; so as to keep the community under their control.
Having recognised the history, the Agriculture Minister said that much more needs to be done in order to overcome the challenges oftentimes occurred and as such, he urged them to move forward and to focus on improving the critical areas.
“This is why we are developing specific agriculture projects. We have brought a comprehensive programme here whereby we rehabilitated the main systems, crown dams regulators, and done main drainage works that were not done in decades.”
He pointed out that a $165M programme was embarked upon recently, geared towards the rehabilitation of the village pumping station. This was followed by a land clearing exercise that will give the village the largest land area.
Minister Persaud emphasised that farmers and youths need to be encouraged rather than lectured and as such everyone should work together to ensure that the village’s economy is transformed.
According to the Agriculture Minister, in some areas there have been farmers returning to their lands, and used the opportunity to encourage people in the area to make full use of the opportunity.