─ Vice President wraps up two-day outreach
The Government has received high commendation for the numerous transformation projects outlined to enhance the livelihood of persons residing along the Essequibo coast, Region Two.
Residents told DPI that the new initiatives which were announced by Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, during his visit to the region, will provide long term benefits to their communities.
The Vice President hosted a two-day outreach to the region, where he held several community meetings. He also engaged rice farmers, GOAL scholarship students and the business community.
Toshao, Bethany Village, Sonia Latchman said Dr. Jagdeo’s outreach was timely, as she was able to have most of her issues solved. She noted that the Vice President’s announcement to create some 800 part-time jobs in the region will benefit youths in her village.
The Vice President said the employment opportunities will assist hundreds of households with additional income. He mentioned, however, that only one person from a household would benefit from the venture.
“Right now, we have children in my village that have Mathematics and English, five subjects and over and so with that job creation they too would be able to benefit from it, so I feel really good about this outreach,” Latchman noted.
She also lauded the administration’s move to subsidise a portion of the internet cost for students pursuing the GOAL scholarships.
Another resident, Rodwell Evans believes that the opportunity will spur economic growth in the region.
“It would benefit me greatly because there will be more jobs in the area and in the community,” he explained, while adding that “it’s a nice initiative. I have grandchildren and they would enjoy the benefits.”
Candacy Joseph, who is also from Bethany had the opportunity to fill out the application form to join the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), following the direct intervention of the Vice President.
“I had applied for the teaching profession job but haven’t gotten through, no calls, no feedback. Well now I feel better about this, since Vice President has already said that there is vacancy so there is a better opportunity or chance now to get through,” Joseph told DPI.
Meanwhile, Troy Gentle also received assistance during the outreach. He told the Vice President that he had applied for a new birth certificate, but the information printed on the document were incorrect, thus hindering his business transactions.
“Thanks a lot for whatever this government is doing for me, I came and explained my problems and I am thankful to get serve, because it’s really tight on me to go about my business. Even when I go to collect the public assistance, I don’t have the ID card, I have the photocopy and it does really be tight,” the budding business man explained.
During his meetings, the Vice President encouraged residents to take advantage of the administration’s co-investment initiative, explaining that the aim is to incentivise businesses in regions which have minimum job opportunities.
“We have a facility where we will co-invest with someone, so if they come to Region Two and they want to build a factory here or a call centre, we are preparing to build the factory shell or the building so that we could cut their cost.
“We are hoping to make it more attractive for business to locate in the regions outside of Region Three and Four. We have already had some interest in this and we are working on that,” he pointed out.
Further, he urged the regional authority to host regular engagements to iron out issues faced by the residents. A number of government ministers and officials are expected to return to the region to follow up on matters highlighted.
Additionally, the region is gearing for major development in the health and infrastructure sectors. Budget 2022 has allocated a substantial among of money to aid in this regard.