President Ali declares that Amerindians equally important to Guyana’s development

Residents of Orealla, Corentyne River, Region Six, were reassured by Guyana’ President Irfaan Ali that Amerindians are equally important to the development of Guyana.

Ali made the assertion during an outreach to the community today. “Today is about you—about listening to you; what are your thoughts about what we are doing? What are the new ideas that you have?” President Ali said that the time is now for Guyanese “to be bold, imaginative and to realise our aspirations and ambitions”.  

President Ali reassured the residents that the Government will always be their partner in the development and is ready to embrace them in realising their dreams.

Training Center

Ali noting that training is important for the forward movement of the residents of Orealla, he revealed that soon they will be able to access technical training with the construction of a new state-of-the-art ‘National Technical Training Centre in the region.

“We are building a state-of-the-art national technical training centre that will be focused on skill development for the needs of our country in the future. And that centre will be located right here in Region Six and we expect that your children, the young people to be part of that programme,” Ali said.

The Head of State said that this is in keeping with a promise in the PPP/C’s 2020 elections manifesto to deliver quality education to all Guyanese. Meanwhile, the President outlined a number of initiatives implemented by his government to improve the lives and living standards of citizens including those living in Orealla.

These, he said include an increase in old age pension, return and increase in the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant, the expansion of the school feeding programme, rehiring of the Community Support Officers (CSO) and the removal of VAT from hundreds of basic items.

ICT development

President Ali assured that those living in the hinterland and riverine communities will benefit from improved internet connectivity as the administration moves to ensure equal access to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) which is seen as a critical tool for the future including easier access to education and training programmes offered by the government.

Ali disclosed that with agriculture being the main economic activity in Orealla, he informed residents of the critical role they will play in CARICOM’s effort to reduce its food import bill by 25 percent by 2025. Ali committed to providing the necessary support to farmers including equipment and planting materials to ensure that they too benefit from opportunities available in the agriculture sector.

It was disclosed that the President was joined at the meeting, by Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha; Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai; Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall and other Government and regional officials.

Additionally, the President and his team also engaged residents of Siparuta also in the Corentyne River.