Nadir exhorts Mahdia residents to look beyond mining
MINISTER of Labour, Mr. Manzoor Nadir has exhorted residents of Mahdia, in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), to work towards nurturing highly educated people and a  diversified economy so that their community is even better off when its minerals are mined out. His exhortation, during Republic Anniversary celebrations at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) sports ground in the village, recently, was accompanied by the assurance of the fullest Government support in such endeavours.
“Gold is not going to be with us forever and, when it is gone, it is going to be the skills we develop in our children that will propel this community, region and country forward,” Nadir advised.
He continued: “There is a lot more to just mining gold in Mahdia and Region Eight. There is much more than just working and spending in your community. We are speaking about building and sustaining a people with the highest level of education and the capacity to provide many more services.
“But Mahdia should not be where, once the gold is worked, the community dies.”
Nadir also mentioned Government’s assistance to mining in recent years and some of the projects upcoming to upgrade the quality of life in the Region and the need for residents to care and protect the environment and the investments in their well-being.
He recalled that, when he first set foot in Mahdia 20 years ago, the front street had just a few houses but the village has, since, become a cosmopolitan community reflecting every strata of Guyana society, with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government always responding to its needs with urgency.
Nadir said Government, through the RDC, has, in the past five years, spent about half a billion dollars in the Region, in addition to expenditure on training teachers and health care workers in Georgetown and other expenses undertaken by Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), among other agencies.
CHEAPER RATES
He said the Unserved Areas Electricity Programme (UAEP) will soon impact on Mahdia, providing 24 hours a day service at cheaper rates than those currently charged by private providers.
According to him, other developments include an upgraded potable water supply system and the resuscitation of the hydroelectricity plant at Tumatumari, from which many consumers will benefit from even cheaper current.
Nadir also talked about the $25M to be expended on constructing the Vendors Arcade and the establishment of 185 house lots in the new Mahdia Housing Scheme.
Referring to it, he said all Guyana could look forward to the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme, through which children countrywide will get modern tools of learning at their fingertips.
Nadir said, too, that information technology and communication (ITC) will not be left behind, as the vision of the PPP/C Government is to ensure a better quality of life and access to good quality services is available to every man, woman and child wherever they may be in the 83,000 square miles of this country.
Speaking about economic diversification, he said there were many people in Mahdia who believe that the real and lasting gold in the area is eco-tourism but he added that, for this to become a reality, miners would need to, significantly, reduce the environmental impact of their activities.
“Government does not want to stop mining,” he maintained but urged: ”Let us use best practices, so that what we leave behind is not just destruction for a few ounces of gold. Let us extract the gold and leave the environment in an acceptable way, so that those who come after mining can also live off the legacy of the land.”
Nadir concluded his speech saying: “On this 41st anniversary of the birth of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, I am confident that the spirit of unity, the spirit of working for the betterment of all and not the betterment of a few is going to take greater hold right here in Mahdia and it will become a shining example of how Guyanese can live and progress.”