PRESIDENT David Granger has promised residents of the East Bank Berbice village of Kortberaadt that he would provide materials for them to construct bus sheds, and that he would support the desilting of trenches in the community, in order to improve community drainage.He, however, encouraged them to engage in self-help to accomplish projects that would benefit the entire community.

During his visit to Region Six, East Berbice/Corentyne, the President, accompanied by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon; Minister of Social Cohesion, Amna Ally; Regional Executive Officer Dr Veerasammy Ramayya and other regional officials, met Kortberaadt residents on the streets of the village after he was told they had a number of concerns they wanted to discuss with him.

A release from the Ministry of the Presidency said the Chairman of the Community Leaders Committee, Bernadette Douglas, accompanied by other residents, welcomed the President’s impromptu visit with dance and song, but wasted no time in listing a litany of problems with which they needed help, and indicated that residents of Kortberaadt had, for many years, felt neglected.

Kortberaadt’s problems included drainage works, land demarcation, construction of bus sheds, inclusion of the community in the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the development of pasture lands for cattle rearing, and a number of other issues.

In responding to their problems, President Granger, a firm advocate of communitarianism, said that while small projects, such as construction of the bus sheds and desilting of the trenches, would receive immediate support, the community must take ownership of them.
 
NO SPOON-FEEDING

“As far as the projects are concerned, I will help you to help yourself. I can provide all the materials, if you want to build the bus sheds. But you have a lot of able-bodied men here, so I will help you to get the materials, whatever you need, [and] I will depend on you to do the construction,” he said.

“Similarly, with the canals and the road shoulders, whatever it is: If you need the tools, I will help you, but you have people here who can do that. I am not going to spoon-feed you. We are aiming to finish the sheds and the cleaning before May 26, so that’s three months to work with,” he told the residents.

Minister Harmon indicated that $10 million would be committed to community work, even as he echoed the President’s comments.

“We have heard your complaints and we are going to do whatever possible to help you. But it is a cooperative effort; we can provide some resources, but the community would have to help.

“Under the Community Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme, I understand, there are some funds left in that programme, so we are going to see how we can free up that money so that some of the things that you want done here can be undertaken,” Minister Harmon promised.

RESOURCES WILL BE AVAILABLE  

President Granger committed that where those funds are not sufficient, his office will ensure that funds are available for those community projects.

With regard to the surveying of household lands and allocation of pasture for cattle to graze, Minister Harmon, within whose purview the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) falls, said the matter would be looked into.

“We would have to go back to the books. We just cannot move lands from place to place, so let a representative from your community make contact with me and I will provide the necessary information,” Minister Harmon said.

In responding to the issue of including Kortberaadt village in an NDC, it was noted that moves are afoot by the regional administration to ensure that this is done.

The President and the Minister of State expressed a willingness to work with the community to ensure the completion of other self-help projects.