–as Minister Persaud returns to the town to deliver on promises made

FOLLOWING up on a recent outreach to Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, returned to the town on Monday to deliver on some of her promises. According to a press statement from the ministry, Yvonne Braithwaite, a resident of Bartica, could not believe her eyes when she tried on her new pair of spectacles and found that she was now seeing clearly and brightly.
She was among the hundreds who tested their eyes on the last occasion and was now receiving their spectacles.
Braithwaite said she was happy that the ministry returned with her glasses because she couldn’t afford to get them privately.
“I just tried them on and they’re perfect,” she said, noting that it will be handy for her when she starts sewing classes offered by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).
Minister Persaud told residents that she was extremely pleased to be able to present spectacles to over 200 persons in the region; this represents one of the largest deliveries under the ministry’s programme.

The minister also presented walking canes and wheelchairs to persons living with disabilities, who are in need. She visited homes to enquire about the efficacy of the ministry’s shut-in and assistance programmes. Dr. Persaud interacted with residents and updated them on various programmes by her ministry and how they could access them. Special attention was placed on the modality of delivery by the ministry on the measures announced by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, that will benefit pensioners, public assistance recipients and persons living with disabilities.
Further, Minister Persaud explained why women should look at starting up their own businesses, why they should network with others in doing so, and how the Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN) training programme and newly-launched business incubator and advertising app could prove useful to them.
She also highlighted that several groups will be formed with men and women in the regions and that more training opportunities will be opened through those groups.

Senior officer from the Gender Affairs Bureau, Lagan (only name given), was on hand to provide pointers on the group’s formation. Groups will benefit from valuable training on combatting social ills.
Meanwhile, Minister Persaud, last Friday, visited the Coomacka, Three Friends and Old England villages in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), where she assured residents that her ministry was constantly working to improve the services being offered, and will stop at nothing to ensure that access is made easy to them.
She related that the ministry has shortened the time for providing pension books, how pensioners can now present their life certificates via WhatsApp if they cannot go to an office, how alternative venues for payment have been established, and how the banks were enlisted for the delivery of pensions.
All of those new systems, Minister Persaud noted, were put in place to cater for the issues that pensioners have been experiencing.