-Minister Ali tells Region Ten residents at 40th Republic Anniversary flag raising
In his feature address to a large gathering of Region Ten residents witnessing the hoisting of the nation’s Golden Arrowhead Monday evening to usher in Guyana’s 40th Republic Anniversary at the Mackenzie Sports Club, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali, speaking about the significance of the anniversary, said that such celebration gives Guyanese an opportunity to renew their spirit and enthusiasm to build a country for future generations with better services and opportunities.
Reflecting on where the country is and where it could be in the future, Minister Ali said that Guyanese must examine the various challenges, opportunities, threats and weaknesses that lie ahead, and find solutions to them, so as to develop a better and prosperous country.
“In doing all of this, we must understand our core values, the morals and values that guide us as a nation…The centerpiece of all of this, is our motto: ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’. In everything we do, we must understand that we are unified, we must work in a unified manner…towards a unified goal and that unified goal is to ensure that all of our brothers and sisters of Guyana have an opportunity as a people to life…We must examine as a nation various policies and programmes that we have developed and are developing to ensure that our people have a better standard of living,” Minister Ali stated.
Society today is challenged by many issues such as domestic violence and crime and abuse which are important issues that the people must address as a nation, he said.
“We must understand that these are critical issues that could impact or curtail our development. We must not look at issues of crime, domestic violence and abuse as issues that do not affect us individually… this is something that affects the development of our country,” the Housing Minister said.
He said that Guyanese should struggle to ensure that people understand the importance of love and unity by working together to build on these concepts.
“We must struggle to ensure that our people understand the importance of love, we must struggle to understand that we understand the importance of unity, the importance of working together and the importance of building together,” the Minister emphasised.
Turning to government’s determination to improve the lives of citizens, the Housing Minister pointed out that Guyana is at an exciting threshold where there is great opportunities to advance its economy.
The establishment of a new fiber optic cable will ensure that every Guyanese family has access to internet facilities while providing job opportunities for thousands of people, he said.
Alluding to the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and hydro power energy, the Minister told the gathering that while Guyana as a small country is leading the way internationally to ensure that economic progress continues while safeguarding its environment, the LCDS offers Guyana an opportunity to help the world.
He highlighted that once Guyana is able to derive the revenue for its standing forest, there will be resources available to expand the country’s economy.
“These are all very important issues that we as a nation would confront in the future. It is important as we celebrate milestones like these that we seek to understand the policies and the development agenda of our country so that we could participate actively in that agenda,” Minister Ali urged.
In relation to housing and water sector developments for the region, Minister Ali said that his Ministry will be investing approximately $400M to develop a further 1,000 house lots at Ameila’s Ward by year-end. This would be complemented by a $68M well constructed at Ameila’s Ward which will be commissioned shortly.
Meanwhile, Region Ten Chairman Mortimer Mingo said that the community coming out to celebrate the country’s 40th Republican Anniversary signifies patriotism that binds persons together, with a rich culture and deeply ingrained Guyanese identity.
Highlighting the potential of the region to be the gateway for trade and exploitation of Guyana’s immense natural wealth, especially between Guyana and Brazil, along the road to Lethem, the Regional Chairman reminded the gathering that there is need for persons to maintain a deep sense of their culture and national identity since several cultures, in recent times, have been altered or consumed through interaction with other more dominant cultures. (GINA)