RESIDENTS of the Upper Demerara community of West Watooka were left smiling on Monday evening as Minister of Finance Winston Jordan made a commitment to provide them with $3.4M to complete their pavilion.

Minister of Public Telecommunications Catherine Hughes also promised that she will work to establish an ICT hub in the community. Both pledges followed a plea for assistance from residents during a community meeting there for assistance, and were met with loud applause.

Among matters that were also raised at the meeting were concerns relating to assistance for persons with disabilities, street lights, land titles and potable water for the West Watooka Hilltop area. Both ministers committed to addressing the foregoing issues as well, by establishing a multi-sectoral team to analyse them.

The meeting was part of a government outreach, the seventh to date, which was conducted in Linden. The Cabinet meeting, chaired by President David Granger was also held at the Watooka House. Over a dozen community meetings were subsequently held following the all-day outreach at the Wismar Market Square, where all government ministries and agencies, such as the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) had a presence.