– Cold storage facility, housing support and other plans outlined

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced an investment package aimed at empowering the residents of Region One. It includes a 30 per cent reduction in electricity rates effective August 1 and new investments in cocoa and coffee production.

Focusing on the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) vision for the next five years, President Ali delivered a message of prosperity and hope at a massive public meeting held at the Fitzburg Recreational Ground in Port Kaituma (Barima-Waini) on Saturday.

The rainy skies could not deter residents from villages across the Matarkai district from assembling in numbers to listen to President Ali.

While many political parties resort to selling you ‘lofty promises’, President Ali said, the PPP/C is focused on providing free education, creating economic opportunities, improving access to government services and assisting families to own their homes.

Addressing the residents of Region One specifically, President Ali said his government will invest in developing the region’s cocoa and coffee industry. This will position the region as a hub for coffee production in the Caribbean, opening opportunities for employment, he said.

Additionally, a massive cold storage facility will be constructed at Port Kaituma, allowing small farmers in the region to safely store their produce, venture into agro-processing and then export to regional and global markets.

President Ali said that direct support will be given not only to building homes, but also to improve the current living conditions of residents.

“With effect from August 1… we will reduce your electricity rate by 30 per cent and we will do that by increasing your subsidy here in Port Kaituma,” the president announced to a loud round of applause.

Community Service Officers (CSOs), who come from Amerindian communities, are guaranteed to benefit from higher packages, including increased salaries and training opportunities, guaranteeing them permanent and better-paying jobs.

“That is what we are about,” the president declared in his address. “Not only increasing the salaries, but real empowerment, real transformation, real change to real opportunities under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.”

Additionally, families will gain more financial resources, such as the $100,000 cash grant and the COVID-19 grant. President Ali promised that his government would focus on transferring resources directly to the people.

“We want to invest directly in families, in small businesses, in infrastructure, in building out internal roads, because we want direct results at the level of the family in these communities,” the president affirmed.  (DPI)