Promises being fulfilled as PPP continuously engages with communities – GS Jagdeo

– Roads, and community grounds being upgraded in several communities

Commitments that were made by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic whilst campaigning for the 2023 Local Government Elections (LGE)are being fulfilled as the government continues to facilitate engagements with several communities.

At a press conference held at Freedom House, Robb Street Georgetown, PPP’s General Secretary Dr Bharrat Jagdeolisted some of the communities that are benefitting from road enhancement projects, agriculture initiatives as well upgrades to community grounds.

These include Laing Avenue; Riverview, Ruimveldt; Yarrow Dam, La Penitence; Foulis, and Enterprise on the East Coast of Demerara, among other communities. Only recently, Dr Jagdeo conducted a follow-up meeting with residents of Laing Avenue and the East Bank.

“I promised the people in Foulis to go back. We went to Foulis, we did the roads there. Some people from Melanie had come, so we went back to Melanie and did the roads, I promised to go into Enterprise, so we went there and we did a number of roads.

… when you’re out campaigning and stuff, you hear people’s concerns and that is the benefit of the direct engagement with people. It’s the connection with people that have always made the difference because you’re busy in an office all the time but when you go out, you hear people’s concerns,” the general secretary explained to media operatives on Thursday.

Government, the GS noted is now working to distribute planting materials to farmers in Region One (Barima- Waini) and will soon go out to tender for hundreds of roads in the Berbice area.

“We’re going out to tender for 300 (roads) in Berbice, a hundred in the East Bank, a lot of communities there. Another 300 for the East Coast in all the areas north of the public road. Now that whole area, from about Plaisance going all the way to Strathspey … A lot of those things came out of our engagements in the campaign and we’re fulfilling them,” Dr Jagdeo emphasized.

As it relates to community grounds, promises are being fulfilled to upgrade the Plaisance community grounds as well as grounds in Berbice County; some $400 million has been earmarked to upgrade over 110 community roads in this area, said the general secretary.

Meanwhile, through the $50 million Home Improvement Programme promised for families living in Laing Avenue and Yarrow Dam, some 300 families are expected to benefit from assistance to better their living conditions.

Additionally, the Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar has been assigned to follow up on the community road that was expected to be completed weeks ago in Yarrow Dam, South Georgetown.

“Sometimes you go and the contractors don’t fulfill their responsibility and the communities think that we somehow have lost interest,” he expressed.