–Jagdeo affirms

GENERAL Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has affirmed that major plans are in the pipeline and are being rolled out to create more opportunities and essentially improve the standard of living in Region One.

“What we [the government] did on the coast, we’re taking some of that to the hinterland too,” Jagdeo said during a press conference at Party headquarters, Freedom House, on Thursday.
The General Secretary emphasised that the transportation of goods from Region One (Barima-Waini) to the capital is a problem that frequently plagues its agricultural sector.

However, he said that this problem will soon be resolved as a result of the introduction of the new ferry, which could cut travel time by as much as 50 per cent, and the reconfiguration of the wharves at Mabaruma and Port Kaituma.

Highlighting some of the key features of the vessel, Jagdeo said: “We’ll have 250 seats in an air-conditioned cabin. You know how the trip was arduous for people with children and everything… they’ll have Wi-Fi on board. You can move 15 vehicles; cars and four trucks on the boat now.”

The vessel also has ten-by-ten containers, so, instead of feeling uneasy about their goods, persons could now rent one of these containers to secure their cargo.

“So, a lot of that will help to take more goods into the interior; push down the cost of living, but also allow them to bring out more stuff,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

On the issue of food security, he said that there are plans with the Ministry of Agriculture to send a team to Region One to assist in the production of certain ground provisions such as plantains.
“I asked why aren’t we doing more plantains, and they said the sucker is too expensive,” he said. “So, we are sending in people to work on that. The Minister of Agriculture will lead a team into Matthews Ridge and into Port Kaituma and Bartica in June to look at this.”

The General Secretary also said that while he recognises that there are a multitude of mining jobs in the area, there is need for training. He, however, affirmed that Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton will lead another group into Matthews Ridge to conduct training.

“They have some mining jobs there; people need to be trained in operating heavy-duty equipment and excavators, and I said the women can do this too,” Dr. Jagdeo said, adding: “We don’t want it to be just a job for men; we have many places where women are becoming welders and all of that. It’s not gender-specific.”