Minister Vindya Persaud assures Region 10 of maximum government support

THE MINISTER OF HUMAN SERVICES AND SOCIAL SECURITY will go the extra
mile to help ease Guyanese burdens, assured Minister Dr. Vindhya Persaud. The Human
Services minister assured three Upper Demerara/Berbice (Region 10) communities her ministry
is prepared to help all residents.
“Each one of you is to be supported, provided for. The entire team is here to ensure that you not
only know of the services we offer, but that you are able to access the services right in your
community,” minister Persaud said.
The outreach started at Old England where the team reminded residents of government
programmes targeting persons living with disabilities; the public assistance scheme; foster care,
among a wide range of other plans.

While there they also distributed hampers, facilitated the signing up of several persons for the
Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN) programme and residents’ face-to-face
interactions with the minister where some grilled her about the COVID-19 vaccines and the
ministry of health’s inoculation plan to protect the nation against the ravages of the highly
infectious and deadly disease first detected in Wuhan, China.
“My team and I, are here to troubleshoot, problem solve and tell you all about the good
programmes that are ahead,” she told them. During the visits to the three communities some
seized the opportunity for free eye tests in anticipation of free spectacles from the government.
Among those present during Minister Persaud’s interaction with residents were Linden Childcare
and Protection officer Huette Moore, Senior Training officer of the Guyana Women’s
Leadership Institute (GWLI) Sanjay Pooran, Deputy Director of Social Services Hamwanttie
Bissesar, among other officers.

Some signed up for a few government-run schemes, while others had a crash course done by the
local Board of Guardians on public the assistance programmes and how to handle issues linked
to the cases sub-sector.

“Government has been focused on development across the country. The President and all of the
ministers have been addressing every sector and today I am focused on the human services
sector,” Persaud emphasized.
She spoke of the shortened time between application and receipt of pension books and sensitized
them about presenting their life certificates via the social media platform, WhatsApp, if they are
unable to visit a physical office.

“I have always been concerned about the long lines at the post offices, so this triggered me to
push all of this,” she Persaud said.
“If we are doing all of this in one year, you can be assured that there’s so much more to
come. We want you to keep abreast with what we’re doing and take advantage of the
opportunities,” the minister said.