Granger tells of 5-point plan for urban revival in New Amsterdam

President David Granger on Friday afternoon attended the opening ceremony of the New Amsterdam Town Week 2019 activities, where he proposed a five-point New Amsterdam Plan of Action (NAPA) for Urban Revival.

According to the Public Information and Press Service Unit within the Ministry of the Presidency, the five components of the plan are to ensure the town becomes a centre of educational excellence offering top-class nursery, primary, secondary and technical vocational education; becomes the Region’s commercial capital, becomes clean and ‘green’, and has transformed infrastructure and expanded public services.
Granger reminded that Guyana is in transition to become a ‘green state’, noting that the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS): Vision 2040 is the country’s roadmap towards that goal.
President Granger said New Amsterdam— Guyana’s oldest town— can become a model ‘green’ town and its Plan of Action for Urban Revival can coincide, step-by-step, with national growth and the implementation of the GSDS over the next 10 years.
“New Amsterdam Town Week is a time to celebrate the town’s rich history and heritage.   New Amsterdam, in its early years, was described as a splendid town, renowned for its beauty, its cleanliness, its orderliness and for its ornate buildings.  I challenge you to reclaim the town’s proud, picturesque and cultural heritage,” the President is quoted by the Public Information and Press Service Unit as saying.
He said too that New Amsterdam Town Week is also a time to celebrate the town’s outstanding sons and daughters. He said New Amsterdam has produced some of the country’s finest businessmen, doctors, educators, lawyers, parliamentarians and other professionals.
Granger said notwithstanding its history, New Amsterdam Town Week 2019 must be different from previous town weeks.
“This celebration must trigger greater efforts at urban revival of the town as a well-laid out, well-drained and well-managed municipality.
It can become a thriving commercial and administrative centre, providing efficient commercial, governmental, municipal and regional services. It must ensure green spaces and greater emphasis in renewable energy generation,” Granger posited.
He told residents of New Amsterdam that the town has the potential to become an eco-tourist destination, given that it encompasses four of the country’s national geographic zones – coastland, grassland, forested highland and hilly, sand and clay zones.
Further, he said that New Amsterdam’s heritage tourism product is breath-taking while positing that the town’s heritage sites can form the basis of an attractive and lucrative urban tourism sector.

Agro-industries
President Granger said New Amsterdam, as the capital town of Region Six, can stimulate the development of agro-industries. He said the town must aim to become an agro-industrial centre and an exporter of processed food. The President believes that the agro-industry— that is, the production, processing and packaging of food using modern equipment and methods on a large scale – can help the Region to add value to its primary products.