KARAM Chand, 62, is Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s Special Assistant in Region Two. The office is an extension of the Prime Minister’s Office in Georgetown, and as such, Chand plays an important role in the sense that he works along with regional officials to improve services to residents in the region.On a regular day, Chand is visited by scores of Essequibians, who bring to his attention their various complaints and queries. He listens to them, gives his advice, and makes calls to officials in the region to remedy their concerns. In some cases, they are referred to regional officials who can assist them.

Chand makes a note of all the complaints he receives on a daily basis, and would do follow-up to ensure they are all addressed.
He said that some of the common complaints he has received since assuming office concern the discontinuation of Public Assistance; persons applying for title for their land for more than five years, and are yet to receive approval; rice farmers not being able to pay their bank loans because the industry is on the decline; poor water supply; and of late, flooding.

He related that, through discussions with the banks, his office was able to get rescheduled some of the loans taken by struggling rice farmers. His job demands that he spends time in both the office and the field.

Chand is a veteran educator. He holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Miami, USA, and has taught in the US, Canada, Guyana, Belize and the Turks and Caicos Islands. A creative writer, he has written three books, namely “The Indentured Servant”, first published in 2005; “Jim Jones’ Justice and other short stories”, published in 2006; and “I had a Dream: An anthology of poems”, published in 2014.

Chand, a remigrant, is married and is the father of two. He spent some 25 years overseas before returning to Guyana in 2014. He told the Guyana Chronicle that during his time abroad, he kept in touch with developments in Guyana, and would voice his opinions in the print media through letters to the editors of the daily newspapers.

A firm believer in change, Chand, on his return to Guyana, joined the masses pushing for an accountable and all-inclusive Government. Soon after the 2015 Regional and General Elections, in which the APNU+AFC coalition emerged victorious after narrowly defeating the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which was in power for 23 years, Chand was appointed the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant in the region he now serves.

“I am passionate about the development of my region and Guyana as a whole. When I speak of development, I speak of both human and infrastructural development. I like to see things happen. I feel a sense of satisfaction when I help people and I see that their complaints are resolved.

“I also want to see more social and political cohesion in Guyana, and I want to see more emphasis being placed on technical and vocational education, information technology, craft training geared towards tourism, more infrastructural development, and better drainage and irrigation in Region Two,” he told the Guyana Chronicle.

Chand said his return to Region Two made him see that many young people were unemployed. He is urging that they “stay strong, not to allow themselves to become victims of peer pressure, and to stay in school and complete their education.”

“The possibilities are endless,” he said.