THE government is undertaking a series of interlinked pockets of investments in Berbice to unlock the region as the logistical backbone for industrialisation and energy distribution in Guyana.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, underscored this point during a roundtable discussion on day one of the Berbice Development Summit at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Kingston, Georgetown.
With massive developments supporting the oil and gas sector unfolding at the mouth of the Demerara River, the government is now positioning the Berbice region as the next epicentre of developments to support the burgeoning petroleum industry.
“There’s a vast range of various interlinked pockets of investment in transport infrastructure, energy infrastructure, social infrastructure, et cetera, that we’re currently very aggressively rolling,” Minister Singh told the gathering of local and international investors, technical experts, and global industrial leaders.
Central to the government’s plan is the development of the modern deep-water port that will harness Guyana’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean.
By establishing this port, Guyana and Northern Brazil can become the leading country and region in transport and logistics.
Social investments include massive housing projects, the development of new hospitals, a modern stadium and the transformation of the Rose Hall aerodrome into a municipal airport.
Important to this, too, is the upskilling of the human-resource pool that will drive this ambitious transformation.
Dr Singh highlighted the Guyana Technical Training College Inc (GTTCI) and the first-ever world-class Hospitality and Tourism Training Institute (HTTI) located in Port Mourant, Region Six.
“They’re already training people there and including delivering training that two or three years ago, (we would have had to have flown people to Canada to get,” he said, before stating that, “People are now staying right here in Guyana and getting that training in Port Mourant.”
On the other hand, the Ministry of the Public Service, Government Efficiency and Implementation, in collaboration with the various ministries, is moving swiftly to digitise all services in keeping with the 2025 manifesto.
On Monday, the ministry launched its new Public Service Upskilling Platform that will prepare the public workforce for this new era of governance.
“We’re currently working on a series of measures and apps, for example,” Minister of the Public Service, Government Efficiency and Implementation, Zulfikar Ally, who also participated in the discussions, said.
“If you want to make an appointment with any government agency, for example, very soon, you can go on your phone, you can go on an app, and you can make an appointment, and you can come for your appointment,” the minister added.
Through digitisation, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic government aims to modernise governance, reduce red tape, improve customer satisfaction and remove human bias.
“We’re working with the private sector, for example, to also bring the private sector along…in the digitisation process,” Minister Ally pointed out.
The Berbice Development Summit will be held over the next three days as the government remains committed to pursuing projects that will benefit the people. [DPI]