MINISTERS of Government, permanent secretaries and senior officials of the regional administrations of Regions 3 (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) and 4 (Demerara/Mahaica)took to the fields last Wednesday to visit several communities on the Demerara River and engage residents as part of a ministerial outreach organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.(MLGRD) They visited the riverine communities of Clemwood, Dora, Endeavor, Susannah-Rust, Princess Carolina, Low Wood, Sandhills, La Harmony, Santa Aratak, Hermanstein, Silver Hill, Long Creek, and villages in the Upper and Lower Timehri/Soesdyke area.

Government ministers on the field visits were Drs. Nanda Gopaul and Frank Anthony, and Messrs Ganga Persaud and Alli Baksh.

Regional officers in attendance were Region 3 Chairman and officials from the administrations of both Regions 3 and 4.

The meetings consisted of   briefs by the heads of the teams on Government policies and programmes at both the national and regional levels, as well as presentations from the residents on the issues affecting their communities.

Residents were beneficiaries of gifts such as sports gear, food supplements, books, school supplies and planting materials.

In assessing the outreach, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Ganga Persaud said it had been highly successful.

He lauded the full involvement of the administrations of both Regions 3 and 4, and said that overall there had been enthusiastic responses from residents of the communities visited.

Most of the meetings were well attended, although attendance at a few was small, largely due to the paucity of the population.

He said: “(Residents) aired their concerns not in any antagonistic manner, but very frankly, clearly identifying where additional support is needed from the Government and the Regional Administration to improve their quality of life.”

He said that residents, in many cases, also expressed their appreciation to the Government for programmes and projects which had been beneficial to them.

“Additionally they were very grateful to the Ministry of Agriculture for the seeds provided. They were very grateful for the sports gears provided by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports; the food supplements provided by the Ministry of Health; and food supplies, crayons, (and) books from the MLGRD and Food for the Poor.”

He said that, as a follow-up, the MLGRD intends to pass on the concerns raised by residents to the relevant subject ministers.

The teams had also collected telephone numbers from residents in each community to provide them with feedback in regard to their communities’ concerns, and there will be follow-up visits if these are felt necessary.

Persaud singled out the communities of Clemwood and Endeavor to receive special attention in terms of provision of solar panels for the school and community buildings there (END).