–new stadium, four-lane highway, world-class training centre, level five hospital, modernisation of drainage, irrigation system, among major components of ‘grand plan’
–President Ali says five years of investment by former APNU+AFC not equivalent to one PPP/C project in the region

TRANSFORMATION underway in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is the result of careful planning, a deliberate strategy and a “very focused vision,” President, Dr. Irfaan Ali said on Friday, when he joined scores of residents to turn the sod for yet another milestone, the commencement of works on the catalytic 10,000-capacity Berbice stadium.

The President used the opportunity to reiterate and outline the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government’s “grand” plans to develop the region through massive investments in various infrastructural and transformational projects.

“In three short years, we have embarked on this journey. This journey to rebuild, to rebuild stronger. We have made it our mission to work in every single community, to ensure that every single Guyanese are part of the prosperity of our country. And what is the grand mission and grand plan that we’ve announced for this region. Development has no face, my friends, in the journey of modernisation in this region,” President Ali related.

Although certain that the government’s agenda, track-record and critical investments are enough to silence any detractor, the Head of State was keen on dismantling the untruths of naysayers who constantly seek to sow seeds of discord by distorting the facts and ignoring the progress.

“I see “One Guyana” under the banner of development. One people understanding the truth that there are the talkers and there are the doers, that there are those who destroy and there are those who build. I am proud to be part of a team, to be part of a party that builds and do not destroy, that bringing people together and do not separate people that uplift people and do not destroy the lives of people. That is what we celebrate.

“My friends, this is not Tic Tok or Tik Tak. This is not a TV show. This is not the talk show. This is not hot balloon, verbiage. This is real work and real development… we must not allow the naysayers ever again… they did once [but] never again to spoil the path of development and progress for you and your families.”

Confident in the government’s successes and efforts to unite Guyanese, President Ali said boldly: “They [naysayers] are once again trying to regroup. But this time they are up against a large army of people who are feeling the development, who understand the development, and people who have lived through the hardship of five difficult years. We are not saying everything is perfect, but what we are saying is that we are working to make things better for you every single day.”
Region Six especially was not only neglected from 2015-2020, but, according to the President, it was “pulverised” and the people were “pauperised.”

In painting a grim picture of what transpired in Region Six under the former APNU+AFC government, the Head of State related: “Thousands of you lost jobs. The private sector was dead. The region suffered immensely. That is the situation we came and we saw. A sugar industry that was abandoned. Punts that transported people to work and came to production left to rotten, that is what we found.”

Today, the government has not only managed to reverse those effects almost completely, but it has also made significant strides in making new investments to ensure that the region and its people benefit from and be part of Guyana’s rapid development.

Aside from the massive stadium being constructed, President Ali referenced plans for a level five hospital, a new four-lane highway, call centres, water-treatment plans, the first local world-class technical training centre, the expansion and construction of farm-to-market access roads, modernisation of the drainage and irrigation systems, and other transformative projects that would have far-reaching benefits.
Also on the table for discussion is the plan for a high-span bridge across the Berbice River that would contribute to the continuous flow of traffic and economic activities.

REAL PLANS
“These are the real plans for the transformation of this region, plans that include the expansion of educational services that would see every single child having full access to secondary education, that will see every single child that want to pursue a university education, having access to that education; one that will see every single pensioner having better pension, better access to care facility, having a better environment in which they can retire in dignity; one that will see every single child having everything they need to access education; one that will see every single family having access and benefitting from our housing programme. This is the future we are building,” Dr. Ali said.

To further emphasise the government’s achievements in the region, the President reasoned that five years of investments by APNU+AFC is not equivalent to one project done by the PPP/C government.

In just three years, in 2020 and 2021 alone, the incumbent PPP/C delivered $1 billion to Region Six in COVID-19 grants, which benefit 30,000 households.

Further, the President said in 2021, $250,000, a one-off cash payment, was given to those sugar workers who the coalition sent home. To add to this, 4,000 persons are now employed on the part-time job programme.

“And a $150,000 one-off cash grant was given to our fisherfolk… our fisherfolk in this region. That is how we have delivered. We’ve invested more than $1.4 billion in agricultural development, benefitting more than 9,000 persons directly. I won’t go through the list of all the projects we did. We have delivered benefits in the housing sector to more than 7,000 people in this region in just three years.

“In five years, they cannot point to a single scheme they develop. In tourism and industry, we are investing in call centres where we spent money on completing the Belvedere Industrial Estate. We have brought direct benefits to more than 500 small businesses in this region through the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce,” Dr. Ali related.
He went on to say that the government has set aside $3 billion to benefit 9,000 pensioners in this region, while $40 million dollars was delivered to the pensioners in water subsidy in Region six.

“We’ve expended hundreds of millions of dollars under the public assistance programme, benefitting more than 5,000 persons in this region. We have delivered a $100,000 one-off cash grant to the children, special needs children in this region benefitting more than 500 children in this region. We have delivered training that benefitted almost 400 single women in this region.

“We are investing heavily in education, in health, I don’t need to tell you the story, but we have moved the availability from less than 30 per cent availability of medication in the health care system from when we came in office to almost 80 per cent now… as I speak to you today and we are not satisfied, we will only be satisfied when we can deliver 100 per cent access to your medication and medical supply here in this region,” the Head of State said.

He outlined a plethora of other initiatives before affirming to residents: “This is how we have worked for you; this is how we have delivered to you and I assure you of more hard work, I assure you of renewed commitment in delivering more and more to you in this region and every single region of our country.”

FIGHT FOR DEVELOPMENT
Cognisant that investing in the advancement is not enough given the proliferation of naysayers, Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo told residents of Region Six: “…if we want our country to change, we have to fight for development. You have to persevere regardless of these criticisms, because you have a group of people who are negative about everything else.”

The Vice-President affirmed that the government is working for all of Guyana, noting: “So, this is what the PPP is about. If you look at our manifesto and this stadium was not in the manifesto, multipurpose centre was in the manifesto. So, we are completing all that we have said we will do in our manifesto. Fifty thousand jobs, you heard about it; we are probably already close to that and there is much, much more to go. Fifty thousand house lots; you’ve seen the housing development here, so everything, on the scholarship programme for this region, look at how many people, about 11,000 already have received scholarships from the government.

“That’s what we are about, development… So that is what we are about, so we will never, you will never find the PPP succumbing to the naysayers. So, I’m urging you to make sure that you’re part of development too, you’re part of what is happening in the national level, don’t let these naysayers [discourage you].”

Jagdeo was adamant that the naysayers are people who have lived their lives and don’t want to see this country move forward.

“They don’t want to see the country move forward… you analyse for yourselves. You’ll be part of the development thinking and the projects that are going to implement that vision. The People’s Progressive Party will always be there to ensure that our country moves,” Vice-President Jagdeo said.