Region 9 Vice Chairman on community outreaches

–        Residents of Sumara didn’t turn out    –

Regional Vice Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Nine, Bertie
Xavier has embarked on an aggressive outreach programme. The Woweta resident in Region
Nine pointed out that as the number two regional official, he intends to get the government’s
business executed. He said as a result they have been venturing into several communities as he
seeks to better understand several issues and concerns facing residents.
He related to this media house, www.aroundtheregions.com that he has been going into the
various villages listening to residents and seeking to address their difficulties and challenges.
This, he noted, will help to enhance life within Region Nine, a promise that he had made along
with the Regional Chairman to seriously and genuinely pursue. Xavier revealed that over the past
two weeks when a number of government officials from Georgetown visited the region, he was
not on the team because he was out of the region. Therefore, it resulted in him not being able to
personally listen to issues of residents, as such, he now seeks to address those.
“I am touching base with the communities that I was unable to touch so I am currently in
Massara, where we will be holding a public meeting,” Xavier told www.aroundtheregions.com
Relating that there are several communities that he will be vesting over the coming days, the
Regional Vice Chairman disclosed that among some of the other communities are Toka,
Yakarinta. He however revealed that despite sending an invitation to the community of Surama
the residents had not turned out. He said that he and his team will continue to visit communities,
promising to ensure that every village in Region Nine is visited with a view of engaging
residents.
“I had visited Surama yesterday but for some reason the villagers failed to show up.  I was told
that they didn’t receive the letter and of course the villagers in Surama are predominantly
APNU/AFC supporters,” he said.
Quizzed on if he believes that the failure of residents in that community turning out may be
because the opposition may have urged their supporters to stay away, Xavier said, “I wouldn’t
say that their party has encouraged them to stay away. I think it’s just a matter of the community
not receiving the information on time and there was a communication breakdown. When we
would have sent the message, the message wouldn’t have been delivered in a timely manner,
thus causing the villagers not to show up at the meeting. For me it’s just a communication
breakdown, which I will address in moving forward.”
The Regional Vice Chairman stressed that despite some communities may be well known for its
support towards the APNU/AFC, the regional administration sees them all as Amerindians. This,
he declared will see the regional administration continuing to reach out to the entire region with
the primary objective of addressing their concerns. Xavier dismissed what he said is the myth
that any community not supporting the current administration will be ignored, declaring that
under the PPP/C administration they are of the firm support for all-inclusiveness.

“We intend to ensure that development takes place in every village in every community so that
residents of Region Nine would be assured that the government in office seeks to bring
development to everyone and not some. That is why we have been reaching out to every village
so that we can better understand what the residents need and or may be affected by,” the
Regional Vice Chairman declared.