—say they cannot live on handouts
By Bebi Shafeah Oosman

RESIDENTS of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) have expressed strong support for President Irfaan Ali’s long-term development initiatives, noting that while short-term assistance provides relief, sustainable programmes and investments are key to building self-reliance, creating opportunities, and securing lasting progress for communities.
Small business owner Narine of Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, welcomed the suite of initiatives announced by President Ali, describing them as timely measures that will bring long-term benefits to families, communities, and the country as a whole. “Based on what the President said, the initiatives that he has outlined were bright. I feel great as a young person; his ideas are on par, and they are very good.”
The young man said, “We cannot only be living on handouts. We are Guyanese, yes, everyone would like to have a cash grant, but the measures he spoke about, the initiatives he spoke about are very good, and they will benefit us in the long term; they will benefit the country.”
Touching specifically on the availability of the $3 million interest-free loan for small businesses, Narine said, “as a small business owner, I will take advantage of that great initiative when it comes on board and the Because We Care cash grant will help a lot of families to offset a lot of expenses, single-parent families.”
“So I feel great about his initiatives, and I think it will help us as Guyanese; as young entrepreneurs, it will help us a lot.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by residents from several communities across East Canje Berbice and New Amsterdam, who pointed to visible improvements and renewed confidence in the present administration. Latchmie Balraj of Gangaram Village, East Canje Berbice, said she is proud of the current government, noting that “they will make us better.”
Also from Gangaram Village, Kishan highlighted improvements to community infrastructure, particularly the ballfield. He said, “They look after it good from how it went before, they doing good and then President talk about a lot of things that will happen, we na wait on handouts, these things will happen and the country will continue to be better.”
Manniram Pooran also of Gangaram, reflected on the dramatic transformation of his area, recalling past challenges with poor access and infrastructure. He stated, “The development, President Ali do a lot of things because abbie been a walk from mud here, they come in make street, do all thing, the road been so bad you had to walk out; car never come in, we get a lot of developnment.”
From Adelphi Village, East Canje Berbice, Mahesh Chetram expressed strong confidence in the President’s leadership and vision.
“Yes, the President doing a very good job so far, and everything he say we believe will happen, and I wish he could get a third chance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ramoutar of Canefield, East Canje Berbice, spoke of the importance of the reopening of the Rose Hall Estate, noting its positive impact on employment and livelihoods. He added that his community has also benefitted from upgrades to the community ground, roads, and the installation of streetlights.
Collectively, residents across the region said the ongoing development, coupled with forward-looking economic initiatives, has strengthened their confidence in the government’s commitment to improving lives and creating opportunities for present and future generations.
Franklyn of Islington, New Amsterdam, noted, “He (President Irfaan Ali) promise and he fulfill his promise and we are grateful to have someone like that in there and now he talk about other things, he give a full plan and we believe he will fulfill it too. The developnment is happening all over, we have a new bridge here, the ballfield develop, and we have to be grateful for what the govenrment is doing.”
Jennifer Haul, also of Islington, Greater New Amsterdam, said her mother moved to the village in the 1940s and she was born there, “and I feel great about the development.”
Allan Richard Mapowan, also of Islington, said, “In our community I can see there are a lot of developnment, because we had a play ground which was neglected for a number of years and then the PPP come back and we spoke to one of the officials and in a minute time things start happening; now if you can see our ground it is completed actually and now our cmmmunity can benefit from that.”
He added, “Islington, Overwinning and Gay Park, we have a lot of young people and they can use this particular ground and they can occupy themselves, it’s a facility that people need.