— gov’t focussed on building inclusive, stronger, better Guyana— President tells Belladrum, Cotton Tree residents

PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Friday, emphasised that continuous dialogue and connection with the people is a critical part of good governance when he paid follow up visits at Belladrum and Cotton Tree, Region Five.

“We are together building a Guyana that is strong and better, a Guyana that is delivering for all the people,” the President emphasised as he urged members of the political opposition to stop their nonsensical narrative that only one set of people are benefitting from government’s programmes.

“You make no sense anymore, and guess what, your narrative will not derail us because we will continue to work with all of Guyana, all of the communities, we will work with them. I intend to go to every single community and deliver the truth, deliver the truth, deliver the platform on which this country is developing so that they don’t have to listen to the false prophets that continue to spread hate and division but that they will see us for who we are, they will see Guyana for what Guyana is and will see the community for what the community is, because the rising tide will lift every single community, every single Guyanese, all of us up, together,” he said
The President was accompanied by several ministers and other regional and local government officials, including Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha and Public Service Minister, Sonia Parag.

They met with residents from the respective communities, listened to their concerns, and observed the progress that has been made in the communities since previous community concerns were raised.
At Belladrum, which the President had visited in a community outreach in 2020, the President noted that he always looks forward to stopping in to continue conversations on how the government and the people can work together to continue build a relationship in which they all collaborate for the enhancement of communities and the lives of people who reside in the communities.

The President noted that on his last visit, there were three main concerns in the Belladrum community, namely assistance for the agriculture through better drainage and irrigation, the rehabilitation of the community centre, and the creation of opportunities for residents, particularly through the women improvement livelihood movement.

DELIVERING
“Those three fundamental issues were raised from them… in just about a year or more we’ve had development in all three areas in the community,” President Dr. Ali pointed out.
According to the President, since his last visit, more than 10.5 miles of drainage and irrigation works have been done in the community. A shade house project also got off the ground.

“I’m not going to go over all that we did and the different initiatives that we pursued but what I am here to do is continue the conversation, to listen to you on how we can further enhance the development of the community. To listen to what are the ideas you have and how we can move those ideas forward,” the President underscored.

He added: “My only reason here is to work with you the people to uplift the lives of you the people and all the concerns that you have that we could work on together as a community, as a people united in one cause and that cause is the development of our community and development of our country. You have a President willing to listen to you and work with you and get the job done with you.”

Members of the Belladrum community have also benefit from the Guyana Online Learning Academy (GOAL) scholarships; every single individual who applied was accepted.

NOT ENOUGH
However, with only 10 persons having applied, the President noted that this is not enough.
“We want more young people to be involved … we’re investing in the skill development programme that will train young people directly in certain areas. Like heavy machine operators, mechanics. These are persons who may not have the qualification but we will train them technically to participate in the different sectors of the economy. We will be coming back in this community as soon as that programme is launched,” the President said.

The President also noted that members of the Cabinet will be directly attached to some of communities, and in the case of Belladrum, Minister Parag has been assigned.
“She will be coming to you, door-by-door working with members of the community and I want you to take her in as a member of your community. That is the only way we can take our country forward. There’s only one way I know and that is the way with people. I want this conversation on development to continue to evolve because we care about every person in this country— we care about every single community— that is why I will visit every community, I will go to every community,” he said.

He elaborated: “To listen to your perspective, listen to your ideas and then the craft policies and programmes to address your problems. That address the situations that might be facing your community that might be of a smaller nature but very impactful in the lives of people in your community. So for us continuous dialogue and connection with the people is a critical part of the living good governance to all our people.”