–Victoria residents confident in govt’s development drive; reject calls by detractors to exclude themselves from ‘very important’ engagements

“ACTION speaks louder than words” was the message that Victoria village residents had for development detractors, as they turned out in their numbers and gave a warm welcome to the members of a government during an outreach on Saturday at the Victoria Community Ground.

The residents vehemently rejected assertions that the village should not welcome the government officials, indicating that they valued the development of their village over politics.

“We don’t have no time with politics. At the end of the day, we have to come out and listen to things that are offered to us and share our concerns. That’s very important,” commented Crawford Rodney, who was among those who attended the event.

A father of five, Rodney said: “I came out here because I have children and my concern is about what they have to say and whatever contribution I can make towards developing the community.”

The outreach saw the Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips leading a team of a number of other government ministers and officials to sit down with the residents to discuss development plans for the celebrated East Coast Demerara village.

Ministers present at the outreach included Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C.; Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud; Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond; Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony; Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Charles Ramson; Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton; Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues; Minister with Responsibility for Public Affair, Kwame McCoy, and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall.

Residents commended the outreach as a sincere gesture by the government to demonstrate their earnestness to work with residents of the community to ensure that the village is part of Guyana’s overall development.

“It’s a very good initiative they have embarked on which is very integral to the development of Guyana, so cheers off to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and this initiative,” commented 46-year-old Faye Ridley.

The ministers, during the outreach, addressed projects and programmes under their respective sectors, and touched on ways in which they could work with the community to ensure its development is on par with the pace of advancement across the country.

“I think that they honestly want to develop everybody, but persons have to listen keenly and take heed to what they’re saying and use the opportunity available to them and don’t listen to persons that are saying what to do.

“It’s for our own personal development, we are responsible for our own personal development. They’re doing a good thing… I’ve never seen this before. This is definitely a plus and I know that they will adhere to the things that they say they will do,” Ridley said.

The visit to the community is among a ceaseless series of community visits that the government has been embarking on since assuming office in August 2020.

The government has continuously made it clear that it is their prerogative to achieve across-the-board development of the nation through working with Guyanese all across the country, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation.

In demonstration of this, the government has been visiting countless villages across the country, including those traditionally supportive of the political opposition.

“Development must be for all the people of Guyana. We have a development strategy that will bring improvement to the live and livelihood of all the people of Guyana, accelerated development.
“Things are happening so fast that some of the detractors can’t even keep track of us. The Guyana that we have today and in the next 10 to 20 years will be far more developed,” the Prime Minister said during his remarks at the outreach.

The other ministers present also underscored their allegiance to the government’s commitment for the development of all of Guyana.

“I think that it’s very interesting, especially for the younger generation, at least we can understand the future that they have for us. It all depends on mindset, we have to value ourselves. There’s more to this life than just being one sided. Today I learned that what people saying when you come to the meeting it’s a different issue,” commented 32-year-old Shellyanne Adams.

For 28-year-old Ayanna Elias, she turned up for the outreach because she did not believe in getting an account from someone else.

“Is selling I was selling when I heard about it so I decided to come out and hear what they have to say.  I wanted to hear it for myself, I’m not depending on second-hand information. I want to know what they have for me,” Elias said.