–Presidential Advisor Ramotar embarks on outreach to nine coastland villages
Government has assured that the range of economic opportunities in Essequibo, Region Two, will be broadened, so that more options are available to residents of the predominantly agricultural county. This was the promise made by Presidential Candidate and Advisor Donald Ramotar and President Bharrat Jagdeo, who held a series of community meetings on the Essequibo Coast yesterday.        
“We have to make sure that more job opportunities come here, of a different kind, and that we create the infrastructure to solve other problems that people have here,” President Jagdeo said.
In the company of Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister of Public Service Dr. Jennifer Westford, Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira, and Chairman of Region Two Ali Baksh, the officials met residents at New Road, Charity, Maria’s Delight, Better Success, Westbury, Paradise Jib, Devonshire Castle and Hampton Court.
The outreaches, led by Ramotar, immediately followed the commissioning of the Charity Magistrate’s Court and took the form of bottom house meetings with residents of the respective communities.
Ramotar told residents that Essequibo will forever maintain the reputation as the Cinderella county, but has not remained the way it was in the past when development moved at snail’s pace.
“It is not the Cinderella in rags, it is not Cinderella the beggar, it is Cinderella the princess now-a-days. That is what we have transformed Essequibo to,” Ramotar told the gathering at New Road Charity.
Residents were hailed for the sustaining of the clean environment, and were assured of the continued patronage of the government to the region.
“Every time we come to the Essequibo Coast, it’s almost like a new county over again,” President Jagdeo said.
Residents were apprised of the upcoming national elections and their constitutional right to vote, while comparisons were made between the policy of the current administration and other political parties contesting the elections.

Approximately $170M has been budgeted for capital works in Essequibo for 2011, and according to Ramotar, repairs to the new stelling and a faster mode of marine transportation will be included.
He then turned his attention to the education sector, commending Essequibo for maintaining the record of top performers at the Grade Six Assessment and Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) exams.
He attributed this success to the investments made by government in constructing new schools and improving access to education, and promised more achievements to be garnered with the Information Communication Technology (ICT) drive across the country.
With the Amaila Falls Hydro Power (AFHP) project being the next major investment for Guyana, Ramotar assured residents of Region Two that services which heavily rely on electricity will be much improved, such as processing of agriculture products. (GINA)