Removing Barriers

PRESIDENT Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, in a recent address to residents of Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini) said that the PPP/C administration is committed to the removal of all barriers that stand in the way of development.
It is a fact of our history that the hinterland communities and the indigenous communities were neglected both by the colonial administration and the PNC regime.
This historical injustice is now in the process of being addressed by the PPP/C administration but despite the best efforts of the government, significant gaps still remain especially in terms of access to social services and employment opportunities.
Only recently, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo announced that hinterland regions are set to benefit from an additional 2,000 job opportunities with the introduction of the government’s part-time jobs initiative.

This, along with the existing 2,500 Community Service Officers (CSOs) will impact positively on employment opportunities in hinterland communities. It will be recalled that the CSO programme initiated by the previous PPP/C administration was abruptly terminated by the Granger administration.
This developmental gap is recognised by the PPP/C administration which is doing everything possible to rectify the situation. According to President Ali, “Our investments are geared towards removing the gap, eliminating the gap within and between regions so that all our people can live a better standard of life and have a better quality of life…so that in your communities you can live a more productive life…a life in which your dreams and aspirations can be supported by a government that cares.”
With local government elections just mere days away, the stage is set for a new power configuration both at the local and municipal levels. The PPP/C is poised to consolidate its political rule in a majority of the areas, either by way of no-contest or competitive voting.
Expectations are high that the PPP/C will make significant gains in several of the NDCs which were under political sway of the APNU including the Linden and Georgetown municipalities which traditionally were won by the PNC/APNU.
This development has not escaped the attention of the PNC which continues to sow the seeds of doubt on the integrity of the electoral processes and unsuccessfully attempted to halt the holding of the elections through recourse to the Court.

But as pointed out by President Ali, even though the PPP is expected to dominate the polls, it is not power just for the sake of power that matters, but the extent to which such power is being utilised to improve the quality of life of citizens.
“It means more to the PPP/C than just placing an ‘X’ on a piece of paper.” Indeed, it is that trust and confidence placed by the electorate in the PPP/C that has always been the defining characteristic of the PPP/C and its success at the polls, both in local and national elections.
Similar sentiments were made by Vice-President and General Secretary of the PPP during an address to a large gathering of party supporters at Leonora, West Coast Demerara when he said that the PPP has become a force to reckon with, thanks to the party’s growing multi-racial support and its capacity to improve the lives of the Guyanese people.
The PPP/C, he said, is the only party that has Guyana’s interest at heart. “The face of our party is changing; we are becoming stronger. We are becoming unstoppable. The work we are doing now with the outreaches, we are building massive support across the country,” Dr. Jagdeo told enthusiastic supporters.
With the highly anticipated victory at the elections, there is likely to be a much more coordinated and synergistic approach to development between the local government areas and the central government.
It is a fact that such development has been stymied in several of the local government areas and municipalities where the opposition APNU has had political control. This dynamic is likely to change as the PPP/C consolidate at the governance level especially in those areas where the political opposition once stood in the way of development.

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