‘You have a gov’t that delivers results’ – President Ali

– at commissioning of farm to market road at Number 58 Village

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali underscored that the PPP/C Government will continue to deliver on its manifesto promises and remains committed to improving the livelihood of every citizen.

He was speaking during the commissioning of the Number 58 Village Farm to Market Road, Region Six on Friday.  

President Ali emphasised that the government has been responsive in all sectors.

He noted the administration’s focus on improving productive capacity and making the right investments that will broaden Guyana’s economic base.

This will in turn create new jobs, and lead to a new wave of capital investments to support the expansion of the economy.

“The government is concentrating on the task ahead and everyone, every single Guyanese is part of the task ahead, every single community is part of the task ahead.

“We came into government at a time when COVID was at its worst. And what did we meet? We met a COVID hospital that did not even have an oxygen line. A COVID hospital that did not have a single bed. Your government outfitted that hospital in record time, brought it to help the people. And at the same time, delivered a COVID grant to every single household across this country…we created a balance in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic,” President Ali stated.

The head of state also reminded of the measures implementedto ease the burdens on Guyanese,

“Reversing tax, removing the VAT on electricity and water, bringing back he school children grant, the uniform grant, the transportation grant, increasing old-age pension, investing in health care, investing in education, bringing back young people on top again in the Caribbean, that is what we did.”

He reiterated that the numerous initiatives being launched by his government are not only intended to better the lives of all Guyanese, but are in line with the ‘One Guyana’ vision.

President Ali urged the residents to reject the false narrative, especially from the opposition,

“Every single Guyanese is loved by this government. But when you have a group of people who can’t appreciate what development is and how transformations take place, then, it worries me…The hundreds of private sector citizens who contributed to cricket carnival that brought so many persons to Guyana and ignited spending.

“In building ‘One Guyana’ we must build a country that stands up on values, that stands up based on the rule of law. That stands up based on democracy. building a ‘One Guyana’ doesn’t give anyone the right to trample on another person. And if you try to take away the democratic right of someone, if you try to take away the vote from someone, if you try to take away the rule of law. And if you try to rig an election, you’re not only trampling upon the people of the country. You’re trampling upon the constitution and the country itself.”

Speaking on the farm to market road, the president noted that,

“This project is not just about the road, this project is part of our large infrastructural, transformational project. This now, opens up the way for us to move on now to a crusher run surface road for the further 16 kilometres that will take us to Canje Creek. When that is completed with other roads, we’re talking about the opening up of this area, alone, more than 50,000 acres of lands for new production.”

He said a new hub of development will be created in Region Six, referencing the oil refinery to be constructed,

“We’re giving two months for the submission of full proposals, design, build, finance, own, and operate.”

In the construction phase, this will create thousands of job opportunities for the residents of the region and will support the construction of a new transport and logistics sector.

The call centre which is being constructed in the region will also create hundreds of jobs for the residents.

At Port Mourant, some US$100 million will be invested in a national skills training centre which will train the young people for all the new areas that the economy requires. This is part of the transformational development of the country,

“all of this is igniting new investments in the region,” the President pointed out.

Government, he highlighted, will continue to be supportive of aquaculture and large-scale agriculture investment across the region.

“Over the last two years, you would have seen tremendous investments in agriculture in every single region. The Minister of Agriculture would tell you that in this region, alone, in D&I (drainage and irrigation), we have done hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in work to support the drainage and irrigation systems in the region.”

President Ali underlined that over 300 new jobs were created from the production of the brackish water shrimp in Region Six.

The investments in the aquaculture industry will help to strengthen its position not just in marine fishing, but also open up new career opportunities within the clearly expanding food market.

This forms part of government’s aggressive initiative to increase food production, thereby reducing CARICOM’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.  

“We will continue to work with all of Guyana, all communities…At the end of the day, it’s the result that matters, and that is what this government is about, creating the results… It is you the people who place your trust and confidence in the government to do justice for you,” President Ali added.

He was joined by Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, and Permanent Secretary of Public Works Ministry, Vladim Persaud.