Henrietta community set to see many changes
− introduction of youth and social programmes
− plans for organise vending
By Neola Damon
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, May 30, 2019
Public Service Minister, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, on Wednesday, urged residents of Henrietta and surrounding communities to unify and use self-help as a mechanism to solve some of the issues facing their communities. The minister was at the time engaging the residents at a community meeting following the ‘Government comes to you’ outreach at Damon Square, Anna Regina.
For Maxine Stewart, the outreach hosted in Region 2 (Pomeroon-Supenaam Region) has helped set in motion, the vision of a cleaner and better Henrietta community.
Stewart highlighted the condition of the Anna Regina Market, youth unemployment and public security as areas which need to be addressed.
“The reason I said that the market is dubbed an eyesore is due to vendors being able to vend wherever they wish without any consequence. They hold up traffic and leave garbage where they vend simply because they were told to do so. If Georgetown can be clean then Anna Regina can be clean as well and so for me, we need some tidy up,” Stewart explained.
She added that this way of vending began after representatives of the opposition encouraged them to do what they want, as opposition, to the region’s vision for organised vending.
Minister Sarabo-Halley agreed that the issues highlighted need attention. She, however, noted that there is a need for unity and self-help initiatives to achieve such goals. She stressed that through the support of APNU+AFC Coalition Government and the unity of residents, many challenges can be addressed.
“The community must want to work to make it look better. Whether the councilors are removed or not they [residents] should recognise the importance of this. As far as I can see, there is a lot of disunity among the people, and it saddens me because it is our region, yet we choose not to be our brothers and sisters’ keeper,” the minister lamented.
She encouraged residents to show interest in the presentation of the country’s National Budget and what is catered for the community.
She also assured the residents that the areas highlighted will definitely be addressed; the area of youth unemployment particularly.
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament, John Adams apologised for the absence of Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, noting that while she wanted to be present at the meeting, it was not possible. He also made a commitment to the residents that the minister will visit the community and engage them in a much more in-depth dialogue to address their issues.
Images: Leon Leung