Unit established to deal with issues raised at government outreaches – VP

The Office of the President has established a special unit to follow up on issues raised at the administration’s nationwide outreaches.

Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo made the announcement Tuesday evening, during a live Facebook interview.

The Vice President said some 44 issues have already been resolved along the Essequibo Coast following his visit there.

“Since I came back from Essequibo the contract for the dredging of the Pomeroon River has been awarded, that’s a big impact. The cereal plant has been reopened,” Dr. Jagdeo noted.

The dredging of the Pomeroon River mouth was among several commitments made to residents of Region Two, even as the administration advanced efforts to mitigate flooding there.

Government, through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) in April, awarded the over $569.3 million contract to Gaico Construction and General Services Inc. to complete the project.

With the reopening of the Morning Glory Inc. popularly known as the cereal plant in the region, a number of employment opportunities will become available.

During his recent outreach, Dr. Jagdeo pointed out that efforts will be made to return the factory to full operation.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, M.P, made a follow up visit and inspected the facility ahead of its opening. Due to Covid-19, operations at the factory had scaled down.

Meanwhile, the Vice President said while the announcement of some 800 part-time jobs was made for persons within the region, the regional authorities have received almost 2, 000 applications.  

“We are now going to contract the people for the part-time jobs, because we have all the applications in. We have nearly 2, 000 in Essequibo because of the distance and the lack of jobs there.

“We are moving on those big initiatives that would affect large numbers of people,” Dr. Jagdeo added.

Government continues to conduct outreaches weekly throughout the administrative regions, in keeping with its commitment of engaging citizens at the grass roots.