RESIDENTS of the Diamond/Grove communities on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) had the opportunity on Friday last to interact on a one-on-one basis with Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud and her team from the ministry.

The outreach was very successful, and scores of persons from the communities braved the rainy weather to show up and be able to access key services on-the-spot. The activity at the New Diamond/Grove Primary School started from 09:00hrs and ran up to about 14:00hrs.

Because senior officers attached to the ministry were on hand to interact with the public, persons were able to have immediate access to services pertaining to public assistance, old age pension, childcare, and probation matters.

Accompanying Minister Persaud were Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), Ann Greene; Deputy Permanent Secretary, Anjanie Ramlall; Assistant Chief Probation Officer, Mahendra Thakurdat, and a number of officers from the Grove/Diamond communities.

Apart from receiving assistance to fill up their forms, persons were also afforded the opportunity to sort out issues that they have had pending for a long time.

“The residents were happy not only to receive the services, but to be able to have conversations with me and heads of departments. We were there to listen to them one-on-one, and give any guidance they required on concerns they had,” Minister Persaud explained.

She also had the opportunity to interact with newly-formed women’s groups whose members were quite interested in how they can benefit from the ministry’s programmes, and they were able to clarify concerns about issues affecting women in their communities.

There were also the usual exercises of free eye testing, and scores of persons were able to benefit from them, thanks to the ministry, in partnership with Optical Works. CPA Director Greene spoke to residents about the importance of community involvement when it comes to addressing issues affecting children. “It was a very good exercise, because we were able to interact with the people,” Ms. Greene said.

She underscored how the CPA relies on the community for help with child protection.

“I was glad for the opportunity to go; wherever people are gathered, I love it, because I get a chance to explain,” she said. She said that the interaction was effective, as the residents were very receptive to the information that was being shared with them.
Minister Persaud will be continuing her visits to locations all across Guyana, in an effort to take the services being offered by her ministry to the people.

Her latest visit last week was to Monkey Mountain in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), where she similarly interacted with residents and helped them sign on to various programmes that the ministry is working on at the moment, including the Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN).

Minister Persaud’s next outreach will be tomorrow, at the Mon Repos Primary School, on the East Coast Demerara, from 09:00hrs to 14:00hrs.