Over 3000 Region Nine residents benefit from Human Services three-day outreach

As the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security continues to bring it’s services to the people, subject Minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud led a delegation to Region Nine where over 3000 people benefitted from the threeday engagement.

Aside from the central hub of Lethem, satellite villages such as Parikwarinau, Potarinau, Sand Creek, Tiger Pond and Karasabai were all visited by Minister Persaud for the first time.

Residents benefitted from both an educational and interactive experience on topical issues such as sexual offenses and domestic violence, assistance through the Difficult Circumstances Unit, help from the Childcare and Protection Agency as well as queries on public assistance and old age pension.

Notably, most of the communities touched were given a commitment to have persons trained through the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute’s Women’s Investment and Innovative Network (WIIN), particularly in garment construction.

Minister Persaud said,

“Where government is concerned, we don’t think anything is too much to bring to any region and to bring to every person across the length and breadth of Guyana. When the President, His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali says One Guyana, he means everyone in this one Guyana and when I came, I am looking at the development that is happening here and the pace in which it is happening. This is what our government is all about, ensuring everyone of you, irrespective of age or gender have the opportunity to reach their full potential.”

“Never before in the history of this country we have seen so many pensioners or beneficiaries of Public Assistance and Permanent Disability. From 2020 when we got into government to now we moved from 60,000-odd pensioners to 73,000 pensioners this year. We started the six-month payment period and now we are working to see between six months and quarterly how often we can have the direct payment come in more regularly and what we have been doing is to improve the system centrally,” Minister Persaud added.

Dr. Ashni K. Singh and the Ministry of Finance, in conjunction with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, hosted a Hinterland Stakeholder Consultation on the Presentation of Guyana’s second Voluntary National Review (VNR) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in St. Ignatius Village, Lethem, Region Nine. There, 24 Village Leaders and approximately 150 persons were able to meet and review Guyana’s progress in effecting its Sustainable Development Agenda.

Infrastructure Industry and Innovation, Goal 11 – Cities and Municipalities, Housing, Disaster Risk Management and Preparedness and Goal 17-Means and Implementation of the SDGs.

Residents on the sidelines of the visit, complimented Minister Persaud for the drastic change that resulted in the prompt delivery of their old age pension and public assistance since assuming office.

Regional Chairman, Bryan Allicock related, “What you are seeing here is what was promised, and you see this minister here, when she commits to something, she does it and we go all out to satisfy our people. What I want to see is my people happy and they live a comfortable life… that is why Minister took the time to be here with us…”

In the beautiful mountain top village of Potarinau, Toshao Peter Stanislaus related that Minister Persaud was the sixth Minister to come to the community in the past three years and exemplified the Government’s commitment to development in far-flung communities.

Sand Creek Village Toshao, Eugene Andrews highlighted that development is happening gradually, especially in Region Nine and we see this because of the commitment by the government.

The VNR allows for the input of all stakeholders including persons in riverain and hinterland communities and today’s consultation saw presentations made by various sectors. It allowed for discussion on the current position in terms of objectives and perspectives looking ahead while also presenting an opportunity for interaction with the wide cross section of stakeholder groups in attendance as they examined mainly five of the SDGs, namely Goal 6 – Potable Water, Water Sanitation and Harvesting Water, Goal 7 – Renewable Energy and Access to Energy, Goal 9 –

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development outlines a transformative vision for economic, social and environmental development. Government has continuously reaffirmed its commitment to advancing implementation the Agenda, aimed at achieving the SDGs, despite the challenging global economic context. Under the leadership of His Excellency Mohamed Irfaan Ali, the current administration has been, as mandated preparing its review with focus placed on five of the SDGs in preparation for the upcoming SDG Summit to be held in September 2023. At that Summit many more countries from around the world currently conducting reviews of their implementation as well, will also be reporting on their progress in keeping with the United Nations resolution.

Addressing those gathered today for discussion, Singh said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government led by President Ali, is people-centered and people-driven as he noted that the engagement is not to be seen as an isolated activity but one in which Government prides itself in terms of its consultative approach to governance. Minister Singh also highlighted the key interventions made by Government in various sectors in pursuit of the achievement of the SDG goals.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai who also addressed the gathering said Guyana is the only country in the world where whenever there are new issues on the table that Government brings the people together to sit down, inform and discuss as well as garner their contributions and have them participate in the process.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill told participants that the presence of the Government Ministers was not due to the absence of other engagements at this time but is a clear symbol of the priorities of the Irfaan-Ali led Administration and how it engages the Indigenous people.

During the engagement, persons in attendance were able to seek answers while the forum also sought to provide an opportunity for active discussion on longstanding challenges and the country’s vulnerability in terms of fighting climate change as well as external shocks.

Ministerial task force established to tackle social ills in Baramita

TheOne Guyana mantra of President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali is much more than equitable access to opportunities, improvement of infrastructure, healthcare, and education. It extends far beyond, including the improvement of social welfare and the eradication of social issues. And the government has heightened its efforts in evaluating social ills nationwide and has made significant moves to address them.

As monitoring of livelihoods continues, specifically in remote areas, the administration has now formulated a high-level task force to address the multiplicity of social issues in Baramita, Region One (Barima-Waini).

The announcement was made by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, during a visit with Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, to the community, recently. “The community of Baramita, some of the burning issues on the social front, the livelihoods, and the existence of the people is of concern to the Government of Guyana. This community has one of the highest suicidal rates in Guyana and it is of concern to us, so the President [Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali] has set up a ministerial task force, that will pay special attention to this community,” Minister Croal stated.

The committee will comprise the Amerindian affairs minister; Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud; Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag; Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand; Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and the housing and water minister.

The team will be discussing the implementation of educational programmes and agriculture production, as an immediate solution to provide opportunities to the villagers. Healthcare will also be prioritised.

Minister Croal said, “There will be a consolidated area for medical services after school in one cluster, so there will be easier access. So, even when you bring your child to school you can get medical attention right in the area.”

Meanwhile, through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, since 2020 a welfare officer has been employed specifically for Baramita, while a Community Development Officer (CDO) in the sub-region has been designated to keenly monitor vulnerable communities, including Baramita.

Minister Sukhai noted that the government will be relentless in its efforts to ensure social ills are removed from all corners of the country.

“We are prepared to continue providing the level of support to allow Baramita to grow with the rest of the country,” Minister Sukhai said.