RESIDENTS of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and ministers of government expressed high expectations of fruitful interactions as the ministerial outreach to the region kicked off on a high note on Friday.

Some 19 ministers are expected to be spread across 28 villages within a three-day period for what will mark the government’s first major outreach for 2019. The ministers touched down at the Lethem Airstrip around 16:00hrs and were warmly greeted by scores of residents of the town.

Several ministers were in preparation mode to speak at the communities of St. Ignatius, Lethem and Moco Moco that evening, but were first serenaded with a musical welcome from a group of youngsters.

They met the ministers upon arrival singing welcome to the ‘Rupununi: a great, great land’.
Present were Minister of State Joseph Harmon; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge; Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan; Minister of Public Affairs, Dawn Hastings-Williams; Ministers of Social Protection Amna Ally and Keith Scott; Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry; Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes; Junior Minister of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma and Junior Minister of Health, Karen Cummings.

Several other ministers including Attorney General Basil Williams arrived earlier in the day. “I’m glad to be back in the Rupununi, it’s always nice to get away from the coastland as the beauty of Guyana is in the hinterland,” Minister Bulkan told this newspaper.

“I’m looking forward to once again visiting the communities in the North Rupununi, particularly Tiger Pond, Kwatamang and Rupertee. Of course, we’ll be visiting other villages such as Annai and Wowetta, but those three places are the villages that I plan to have engagements with the residents,” he added.

Greeting residents nearby was Minister Hastings-Williams who will be visiting villages such as St. Ignatius; Hiowa and Yupukari. “It’s very good to be in the Rupununi today, along with more than 14 ministers,” Minister Hastings-Williams said. “I’m very much pleased by the welcome we’ve received this afternoon, especially the welcome song done by the children. It’s very much appreciated and I feel at home in the Rupununi.”

Meanwhile, Minister Greenidge said: “I’m happy to come and see things and how they are going. I’m not a stranger to the region, so I’m looking forward to hearing from the folks what sort of things they’re interested in; to talk to them about government’s plans and to see how the roads and other developmental activities are likely to affect them.”
Friday afternoon, before the meetings began, the Guyana Chronicle met up with residents who were punctual to the meeting places at the benab in St. Ignatius and at the Amerindian Hostel in Central Lethem.

They were willing to tell of some of the challenges in their villages and of how the government can help in years to come. “The roads in Lethem are very dusty. The dust gets into your houses; your clothes would be brown; you have to sweep every minute and that sort of thing,” 78-year- old farmer, Francis James, said. Apart from improvement to the roads, he called for more visits from agriculture officers to the region and to his village of Hiowa, where he plants cassava, banana, plantain and cane.

ROAD DUST

Meanwhile, librarians of the National Library branch in Region Nine, Desire Boston and Andrea Charles, also opened up about their concerns and interests. “The road to Lethem and the internal roads have a lot of dust and some of us have asthma, so it affects us,” Charles said. “I see them working on the road, so I’m waiting to hear what more will happen, because it’s good that they’re working on the road because it will be better for us.”
Regarding the work of the library, Boston added: “Things are going very good. We normally get books every year. This year they’re coming again to bring books and they’re improving our branch, so that we can open everyday like they normally do in Georgetown. A lot of children come and read the books and so on, adults as well. We even get persons coming from Brazil to do research. It’s very important to the region.”
She told the Guyana Chronicle that, that same afternoon, Minister Hughes visited the library and informed the staff and management about the forthcoming plans for ICT in the region.

“She was in there this afternoon and she was telling us about the plans for the internet along with computers for us. Internet would be very good for us,” Boston said, adding that persons would need to be trained.

Over at the St. Ignatius benab, village Toshao Dennis Benedict and councillors –including those from the neighbouring satellite villages of Kumu and Quarrie— said that they were happy to have the large number of ministers in the region. They are hoping to spur engagement on the issues of teenage pregnancy; drug use; police bribery; access to land extensions and access to sport grounds in the region.

The other areas which will be visited over the weekend include: Parishara, Nappie, Quarrie, Kaicumbay, Yupukari, Kwatamang, Rupertee, Annai, Aranaputa, Surama, Wowetta, Massara, Toka, Rewa, Katoonarib, Sarariwau, Aishalton, Auchiwib, Maururanau, Kraudar, Karasabai, Tiger Pond, Shulinab, Sand Creek and Hiowa.