-dozens sign up for GOAL scholarships; missing NIS contributions among matters addressed

SCORES of residents who attended the two-day Office of the President outreach at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, which was led by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, have expressed satisfaction with the services offered and the steps that were taken to resolve their issues.

The event ended on Friday afternoon, and saw hundreds of Region Three residents turning up to interact with President Ali, several ministers and officials from a number of government agencies.

The Guyana Chronicle spoke to a few of the residents and they all expressed appreciation to the government for holding the well-organised outreach.

Gautan Persaud, a 66-year-old resident of Leonora, said that he believes that the initiative was one of the best ever held in the history of Guyana.

“I think this is the best thing ever done in the history of this country…this is the best ever,” the pensioner related before adding, “What I see with everybody is that they have high hopes and everybody happy and I never see this kind of thing in my life for the 66 years that I living.”

He stated that Guyana is on track to achieving “no hatred, no animosity”, and he thinks the country can show the rest of the world “the way to go.”

This publication found Persaud at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) booth where he was trying to resolve an issue.

He explained that his employer had robbed him of more than 300 NIS contributions and he was hoping to have that rectified.

“A MP did ask the manager at Leonora to do an investigation. He did a thorough investigation and discovered that the security service I used to work with robbed me of three hundred and something contributions,” the pensioner said.

He noted that he was assured by NIS that it will be corrected and everything is set to move forward smoothly.

The NIS booth was able to resolve 75 issues raised by residents on the first day of the outreach.

Additionally, Persaud has a wife with a vision disability. He told this publication that his next stop was the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s booth to see what assistance he can get for her.

Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain, said that about 15 of the 20 issues raised at the Ministry of Education’s booth were resolved.

“Most of the issues had to do with teacher’s matters; teachers having issues with their salaries, teachers wanting to know some procedures in education pertaining to transfers and there were also some parents visiting to express concerns about the conditions present at schools,” he explained.

Hussain said that the Neighborhood Democratic Council (NDC) undertook to fix all of the issues raised by parents before Good Friday.

He noted that education officials were there to discuss issues persons may have been facing in schools whether with teachers, parents or students as well as to listen to suggestions that would improve the education system.

The Guyana Chronicle also spoke with Ronald Singh, Deputy Director of the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) who said that on Thursday, they were able to sign up or attend to the concerns of at least 40 persons.

Singh noted that this scholarship was meant to reach every corner of Guyana.

“There is no distinction of race, class, creed or culture… they don’t even have an age limit. It’s an opportunity where the government is bringing opportunities to the homes and villages of people. Today is a reflection of that too, where they brought the government to Leonora,” he explained.

He said that the government was out at Leonora, to resolve residents’ issues and if it wasn’t sorted at the outreach, it would be sorted shortly.

“We encourage people to sign up for the GOAL scholarship…it’s free and it gives you an education that will build your capacity to meet the needs of this economy in the near future if you look at some of our programmes; there are new age programmes geared to the emerging needs of this economy,” he added.

Singh noted that GOAL is looking for new programmes as well, to widen the occupational and knowledge base.

Candis (only name given), a 42-year-old woman living in Goed Fortuin, said that she initially came to the Small Business Bureau (SMB) but stepped over to the GOAL booth and ended up signing up for a scholarship.

However, due to her not having the appropriate grades for some subjects, she needs to do them over. She said that she plans to do so online.

She said the initiative is a great one and was hoping to visit each booth.
Other residents who spoke with this publication also expressed their satisfaction and applauded government for taking the time to listen to their complaints.