Minister Persaud leads fruitful community outreach to Ankerville, Port Mourant

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud on Wednesday spearheaded a community outreach to Ankerville, Port Mourant, East Berbice Corentyne (Region Six).

The meeting addressed a number of challenges faced by residents in the community.

“So, I thought rather than hearing it by proxy, I should just come myself, listen to you, get a sense of what your needs are and look at how best I can reach out to help the community” she said.

The outreach heard from residents with decades-old issues relating to land, impassable roads, and job opportunities, among other concerns.

While the team was able to address a number of concerns on the ground, other issues will be followed up by the respective ministries.

Minister Persaud assured residents that government is committed to ensuring they receive the necessary help, especially during the ongoing pandemic.

She also highlighted some of the programmes implemented by her ministry that are helping to improve people’s quality of life.

 “We’ve been working on the pension and the public assistance programmes as well as the $25,000 voucher to pensioners and people on our public assistance register. We’re also looking at persons living with disabilities so that they can benefit from $25,000 as well.

 Another area that we’re also focusing on heavily is the single parent community and so we’re creating a register of single parents so that when we have programmes or when we have anything coming out of the ministry, you can be informed and you can benefit” she said.

The minister added that while some programmes have already been concluded, there will be other opportunities for persons to join the various skills-training programmes offered by the ministry.

“The intention of all the programmes is to make sure that we’re inclusive, that everybody is catered for and that everyone benefits” she stated.

During the outreach the minister also distributed food hampers to residents of the community, while those who were eligible were allowed to sign up for the government’s public assistance programme.

Community members thanked the ministry for the timely donation.

Ms. Clarine Zaywood said she was very pleased with the help she has received.

“I’m very grateful and thankful for what the government is doing for us because its very struggling for some people I know for sure, especially me so I’m very thankful” she noted.

Ms. Trudy Sinclair, one of the residents who had reached out to the minister, commended her for her response.

“I am very pleased and happy that she is trying to meet the needs of the citizens of Guyana, she is trying to be there for us and I want to work closely with her in developing our area and see where we can go in moving forward” she said.

Representatives from the Probation and Social Services and Childcare Department were also present to assist residents in need.