– as gov’t chalks up seventh outreach to date

THE town of Bartica is slated to host the next ‘Bringing Government to the People’ outreach, which is scheduled for June 18 and 19.

The event will see President David Granger and his cabinet of ministers spending the entire two days meeting and talking with Barticians and whoever else happens to be in town at the time.

According to Mayor Gifford Marshall, after Bartica was made a town, the President had outlined a vision, a vision he had in mind for not only Bartica, but for all the new towns in the hinterland. And it is this vision, he said, that is beginning to unfold, and the township is very appreciative. “The entire vision,” Marshall said, “is to have capital towns. And the intention of the capital towns is basically to bring vital services to the people. We are very grateful that Central Government is not only talking the talk, but they are walking the walk. “Bartica, over the last three years or so, would have seen a significant move by Central Government to transform the infrastructure to ensure that the needs of the people are met right here in Bartica.”

Due to those developments at reference, Mayor Marshall seized the opportunity to commend the government, saying that the people of Bartica and those living in the riverine areas are looking forward to seeing the president and his ministers once more in their hometown.

“Further, what we have been told,” the mayor said, “is that Cabinet will be held for the very first time in the township of Bartica, and this, too, is a tremendous plus for the new town and the people of the town. It demonstrates, too, the confidence the government has in the people of Bartica and the people of Region Seven.”

According to Technical Coordinator of the ‘Bringing Government to the people’ exercise, Ronald Austin Jnr., of the Office of the Presidency, the Bartica meeting is the seventh such event to date, and that on the first of the two-day sojourn, Cabinet will be held in the morning, followed later the very day by the outreach proper in the compound of the Mayor’s Office.

Austin sid that during the outreach, persons will be given the opportunity of visiting the booths of the various ministries and agencies and have their issues sorted out.
Then, on the following day (June 19), the ministers will spread out across the township’s 19 communities to host meetings with the people. “The government believes in decentralisation. The government is 10 regions, and has to have direct contact with the regions,” Austin said, adding: “Our President considers Bartica a very special place, and it is leading in the ‘greening’ initiative. Bartica is miles ahead in the implementation of this. So, in addition to the outreach, Cabinet will be held there for the very first time.”

He made it a point of saying that these outreaches are being treated as a project, whereby data is collected, and follow-up are being done to see if issues are resolved. He said that during these exercises, there is always a monitoring and evaluation team on hand, and their job is to assess the efficiency of these outreaches. The team, he said, will be providing colour-coded graphs, showing resolved and unresolved issues, and this is being done to ensure that every citizen is satisfied, and all needs are being met.