–President Ali says, points to plethora of jobs available, projects that will unlock more opportunities, ensure long-term progress
WITH the aim of bettering the lives of all Guyanese, the Government of Guyana led by President, Dr Irfaan Ali, is heavily focused on implementing ideas that it understands, believes in, and knows it can effectively execute.
President Ali highlighted this on Thursday while delivering the feature address at the opening of a gas-to-energy job fair hosted by the government in collaboration with Lindsayca Oil and Gas Integrated Solutions Group, at the Leonora Track and Field Stadium in Region Three. The job fair aimed to employ some 1, 000 locals.
The event coincided with a two-day Cabinet outreach which continues across Region Three today.
President Ali in his address highlighted the development taking place in the region, noting that the Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base Facility alone has directly and indirectly provided employment for over 425 persons.
Through the National Job Bank, a fully online platform, at least 300 new vacancies will be posted for Region Three within the next four days.
“One hundred and twenty persons immediately needed by one company. The sugar refinery that will need at least 100 persons converting what one government made derelict and scrapped to prosperity, transformation, and jobs,” the President told those gathered.
He said that people have decided among themselves to trust the government to fix the issues or challenges that they are experiencing.
Turning his attention to the outreach activities, he emphasised that this approach to governance which targets every region is not superficial. The aim of such engagements he said is to build a connection between the government and the people.
“We want people in policymaking to wake up in a community and smell what rice fields smell like. And wake up and hear the horns of trucks going to the sugar field because it builds a connection with the reality, and that is what is important in public policy. Those policies are not created in a vacuum… [they] are created within a framework, and that framework is what we are building,” the President asserted.
The Head of State added that his government’s method of leadership is not based on elections, but purposeful vision each day of the year. “For us this is hard work. Continuously, every single day of the year, and tonight, outside of all the connecting with people, we will find time to break bread together.”
He added, “The fertiliser plant, the gas plant, the land development, and this is only for the shore-based infrastructure. All the other industries that will be built out in the construction phase alone will require thousands of jobs. And then permanently, in our projection, is at least 1,500 jobs we’re talking about within that ecosystem. This is a reality. That is not five years from now, this is a reality that is immediately before us.”
The president added, “Today is an enormous moment for Region Three, but that moment has overflowed to all of Guyana to the extent that we had persons from every corner of Guyana coming to Region Three to look at these opportunities.”
He asked Guyanese to imagine what will happen following construction of the airport in Lethem, the new deepwater port in Rose Hall, or the investment in agro-processing zones, the special industrial zones that will be created across the country.
President Ali affirmed that Guyana is going to have local investment opportunities in Region Three, including investments in the fertiliser plant with a fixed rate on return, the gas-bottling and logistics plant, the glass factory and the data centre.
