Berbice youths rally behind PPP/C

…want Granger-led Govt out

Young Guyanese are throwing their support behind the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and are calling for the David Granger-led Administration to be replaced at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

Witnessing those calls were thousands of party supporters on Sunday at Albion, Region Six (East Corentyne-Berbice) where, according to PPP/C Executive Secretary Zulfikar Mustapha, the largest number of persons ever gathered to listen to the party’s message.
Noreen Alpine, a nurse from the Amerindian village of Siparuta situated 56 miles up the Corentyne River, said she has put her faith in the party.
She noted that in 2015, many supporters of the PPP/C had moved away from the party to support the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition but those persons have now returned. She took the opportunity to welcome them back.
Alpine explained that since the current Administration took office almost five years ago, 1472 youths from Amerindian communities across Guyana were fired. She said promises to find alternative employment for them have not been fulfilled.
The only employment in those community, she said, is logging but they need to get a pass in order to do so. For months, she noted, the Government has not been able to get the relevant tags which loggers need in order to operate hence there has been a massive migration of Amerindians from the region to neighbouring Suriname and French Guiana.
The young woman also highlighted to the thousands in attendance other promises made by the incumbent Administration which were never fulfilled while noting that in recent times, the community has strangely been receiving numerous visits from Government officials.
“The people of Siparuta are not stupid. We know that you are trying to buy our votes. It will not work this time. You bring gifts for us bought by our own taxpayers’ dollars,” she said.
Meanwhile, lecturer at the University of Guyana’s Berbice Campus, Dr Garyson Halley called on party supporters to join hands and ensure that the Granger-led Administration is removed come March.
Dr Halley, who is also a candidate on the party’s National Top-up List, said he was grateful for the programmes implemented by the PPP which allowed him to become a doctor.
Speaking of the challenges being faced in the region as a result of the closure of the two sugar estates – Rose Hall and Skeldon – which has left more than 4000 jobless, Dr Halley pointed out that many children are feeling the pain their parents felt.

Many students, he disclosed, had to give up their studies because their parents lost their jobs when the two estimates were closed.
He noted that while the coalition has promised a good life for all, many former sugar families have been disconnected due to owing the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) a $3000 bill and then were forced to pay more than double that amount for reconnections.
Meanwhile, former parliamentarian, Dr Vishwa Mahadeo noted that all the productive sectors in Guyana have been destroyed and are currently underperforming.
Mahadeo, who previously headed the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA) until the coalition took office, said currently the public health system in Guyana lacks proper administration.
He used three words to describe the leaders in the health sector; incompetent, dishonest and corrupt. Mahadeo noted that it was under the Bharrat Jagdeo Administration that more than 1000 doctors were trained and placed in the health sector to provide specialist service to the people of Guyana.
“We never had that many before. Doctors used to visit the bedridden in their communities. Doctors used to visit the elderly at their homes and take the medications to them. The Berbice Regional Health Authority which started on the Jagdeo Administration used to supply pampers, bedpans, wheelchairs and walkers for the incapacitated. There used to be special elderly clinics; all of this under the PPP,” the former BRHA Head stated
He added that the BRHA had been providing services for the elderly and the Granger Administration not only took away those services but also removed the subsidies on electricity and water, and then added VAT to electricity, water and even medical supplies.
Speaking about the Nationals Ophthalmology Hospital, Dr Mahadeo noted that 550 cataract surgeries were done there annually under the PPP Administration. However, in 2017 and 2018 there were zero cataract surgeries at the Port Mourant facility.
Last year some $7.8 million was allocated to purchase drugs and medical supplies for the health sector in Guyana. But still, Mahadeo pointed out, the Health Sector is plagued with a perennial shortage of basic health care drugs.
“Those drugs are for persons with high blood pressure and persons with diabetes,” he posited.
On the other hand, former parliamentarian Vikram Bharrat, who hails from New Amsterdam, said with good governance Berbice can realise its true potential.
He recalled that sugar workers were promised 20 per cent increases by the Administration but did not even get $20 added to their wages and salaries. In fact, what happened was that most of the sugar workers in the region lost their jobs due to the closures.
Bharrat added that even rice farmers were promised that when the coalition gets into office they would be paid $9000 per bag of rice.
“If we were to give the rice farmers $9000 a bag of rice, how much will you have to pay for rice in the market. We have to implement realistic policies,” the former parliamentarian stressed.