REGIONAL Executive Officer (REO) of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Region 10, Orrin Gordon, has assured youths in the region that the RDC remains committed to hinterland development.

He made the disclosure while addressing youths recently at a Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) programme, training session. Gordon told the gathering that there are challenges in all regions, but Region 10 has sought to ensure that systems are in place to address youth development and empowerment especially in border regional communities.

He disclosed that owing to some challenges in Region Four, his RDC made a decision to step forward and assist the participants of the programme by ensuring that they were paid their stipend in a timely manner. These were communities on the Linden Soesdyke Highway and beyond. “It is tough on the accounts staff but they know our position and adapt willingly. However recognising the importance and value of such a programme the Region was happy to assist,” the REO said.

He added, “This says that somewhere along the line we have been doing what is expected of us and that is very important in pushing youth development, and we will continue to do what is expected of us despite the circumstances.”

The regional executive officer said that there is an urgent need for more young people to access the numerous opportunities that HEYS provides. He declared that the RDC recognises that and is committed to ensuring such, through programmes and initiatives like this. He pointed out that youth empowerment is providing holistic development for all Guyana, noting that the RDC wants to see more youths accessing the programme.

“Let me reassure you that as head of administration there is need for entrepreneurial development, self-employment, self-empowerment and HEYS, which happens to be one of the programmes, will be used to ensure that young people across the length and breadth of Guyana, more particularly in the hinterland communities, that you can play your part”. He spoke about self-empowerment and economic liberation, stating that those requirements are being met with what has been reported by the trainers and facilitators.

Gordon has been REO for under a year but stated he has been able to review and examine projects in a number of hinterland communities. He said he has recognised that several communities were being taken advantage of by some contractors, as many went into communities and instead of contributing positively they were responsible for making things difficult for some residents.

As such, he stressed that he recognised an urgent need for capacity building, declaring that it was because of this need, that resulted in the RDC using community participation and awarding some 33 projects to all satellite communities in Region 10 i.e. communities in the Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice Rivers, to the tune of $54M. “We had to be patient and two members of the Public Works Department were placed to work with the toshaos and councils to help build capacity and become empowered”. Some Toshaos are ready to go in 2019, so strong they have become.

He further noted that in November, his region also hosted for the first time in recent history, a regional toshaos’ conference. Region 10 is a trend-setter, as no other region has hosted a toshaos’ conference within their region since the NTC last year. He said that all 10 toshaos from his region were in attendance noting that two CDC groups were also invited to attend. He stated that because of the overwhelming support and success of the conference, the follow up meeting is slated for February this year. “We are prideful in having these conferences for our hinterland residents. We have two toshoas who sit on the national toshoas body NTC and they have to understand that they are unique so they have to put together a body in region 10,” he promised.

REO Gordon declared that these and other initiatives form part of his region’s approach in empowering the youths and residents as a whole within the region. He warned persons that despite there may be a feeling that things are only taking place in Linden; this misconception has to be corrected as the RDC addresses a number of issues relating to Region 10 instead of Linden. “Our mission is geared towards empowering our hinterland communities and therefore I urge our leaders, especially the toshoas, that they need to do a lot better so as to fuel the development that we are facilitating within their respective communities,” he said.

“I am aware of the issues regarding the economics, education, health and logistics and can assure you that at the region we will ensure that all are being addressed. That is why we have programmes like HEYS and the success stories from such programmes like these have brought success to the hinterland communities,’ the REO declared.