SEVERAL Government Ministers embarked on a community outreach exercise at Leguan in the Essequibo River last Saturday, to meet, interact and address, as far as possible, a number of pressing issues and concerns of the residents.

Among them were Ms. Jennifer Webster (Human Services and Social Security); Mr. Irfaan Ali (Housing and Water); Dr. Nanda Gopaul (Labour); Mr. Ganga Persaud (Local Government and Regional Development); Dr. Frank Anthony (Culture, Youth and Sport); Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Juan Edghill and Minister within the Local Government Ministry, Mr. Norman Whittaker.
The ministers went on a ‘fan-out’ to different locations on the island and this publication accompanied Minister Webster to Endeavour (Eastern Leguan), where she addressed an interactive meeting of about 40 residents.
With Minister Webster was Mr. Julius Faerber, the Chairman of Region 3 (which includes Leguan Island).
Faerber, in his opening remarks, informed the residents that such a series is presently being held all across the island on the instructions of President Donald Ramotar.
He said, since the President assumed office, he wants all government representatives to be in contact with persons all across Guyana.
The Chairman said the minister will inform the residents about the happenings across the country, parliament and such issues.
Faerber highlighted that similar outreaches will be conducted and have been done in other Region 3 areas.
He pointed out some of the developments taking place on the island so as to enlighten the residents about improvements.
Under agriculture development, Faerber said a culvert is being constructed at Maryville, Leguan to assist with drainage and irrigation and reconstruction of bridges on the island is also being undertaken as well as upgrading of roads and building better sea defences.
He said there are efforts to look at the more critical and vulnerable areas which need improvements in the sea defence.
Faerber said the area of Canegarden is also being constructed. Upgrading of roads and schools around the islands are also being looked at and repairs were carried out. Such works are being done at almost all of the schools on the island, he noted.
He added that repairs were also done to the Leguan Hospital.

NO LONGER
Faerber lamented that the excavator which the island had once acquired is no longer exclusive property of the island as they now have to share it with Wakenaam Island.
He also said that the machine will be coming back to Leguan to continue carrying out heavy duties, such as keeping canals clear for better drainage and irrigation.
He mentioned that the cleaning of school compounds around the island was done by persons from the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and he is expecting that residents cooperate and work with the RDC to ensure that the work that was done is maintained.
Minister Webster, in her address to the residents, stated that she is indeed very pleased to be there to interact and to bring the residents up to date as to what has been happening around the country.
She also conveyed greetings from the President to them as well as to let them know that he is very concerned about them.
She stated that, when the President and his government took office, the Administration embarked upon its mandate to keep persons up to date with the key developments and issues being faced by the Government of Guyana.
She stated that, at the parliamentary level, during the passing of the last National Budget, quite a number of programmes were cut by the Opposition including programmes which have a direct impact on citizens all across the country.
She stated that one such project was the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) project where the Government had planned to run Fibre Optic cables all the way from Lethem to Moleson Creek and then to Essequibo so that everyone can have cheaper bandwidth across Guyana, as the country is becoming very much well globalised and modernized, especially with the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project which was initiated by former President Bharrat Jagdeo to deliver to over 90,000 families free computers.
Another such programme was the Amaila Falls Hydro Project which was meant to provide cheaper electricity to all Guyanese and the excess power would have been sold to Brazil to bring in further revenue for the country. However, that project also suffered the cuts from the Opposition, she explained.

GOVERNMENT CONVICTION
She said the Government remains in its conviction to serve the people of Guyana, that is to do whatever it takes to make Guyana a better place and for that reason the government continues with its present resources to better all sectors such as agriculture, health, education, human services, infrastructure and security.
She stated that the issue of sea defence in the community is one of the areas where the Government will place much focus and continue to work upon as it is for this particular area very vital, considering that they are an island and a farming community, not forgetting the situation of global warming.
Webster pointed out that drainage and irrigation structures are also very critical to the work of the residents ensuring that kokers are working well.
She stated that priority projects are especially those concerning infrastructure and sea defences.
The Government has had support from donors to support work, donors such as the European Union, due to issues their aid is getting quite less, she said.
Not a lot has happened as the Opposition is on a path to stem the flow of the government’s development of Guyana she pointed out.
The minister also briefed the residents about the past Linden situation and what it had evolved into, noting the situation where Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee has the full support of the government and he will not be asked to leave his position.
She also highlighted the disrespect shown to the Home Affairs Minister and reiterated that Minister Rohee stands firm and the President does not see reason to remove him from his post.
Webster said the mandate of her ministry is to inform the persons that as soon as they reach age 65, they are eligible to a pension, and about programmes that the ministry has to offer to single parents and women, for example, the Women of Worth (WOW) project and even those to assist men in their daily struggles.
She enlightened the people about their pension rates and benefits such as reduced water tariff for the pensioners.
She also noted that her ministry is always willing to provide assistance to disabled persons as well.
All in all, she indicated the government’s perseverance to assist the people of Guyana no matter what it takes.
The interactive session with the residents of Leguan proved very informative as the ministerial party highlighted their most pressing issues, such as the current transportation problems, that is, the ferry does not have a regular schedule as to when it comes to the island which the residents described as being very frustrating.
Other issues the residents raised were those of drainage and irrigation, concerns about the police station and that their complaints are not always taken seriously, the proper impounding of animals, sea defence issues, suspected piracy against fishermen in the area, persons who do not have water meters and of them paying a different tariff for their unlimited supply of water and the roadways.
The minister promised to have discussions with the respective ministers to have those situations dealt with at the earliest.