NY Independence celebrations: Minister Rodrigues urges Guyanese in diaspora to return home and invest

Guyana is currently undergoing major transformational changes, all geared at ensuring a better quality of life for Guyanese, Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry Susan Rodrigues told Guyanese living in New York on Thursday at an event to mark Guyana’s 56th anniversary as an independent nation.

She said the transformation underway is part of the PPP/C Government’s “One Guyana” vision, which seeks to unite citizens for a brighter future.
She told attendees, which included Guyana’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Samuel Hinds and Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, that the Administration, since assuming office in August 2020, has faced the indomitable challenge of ensuring citizens enjoy all that Guyana has to offer.

She said despite the many challenges, the Administration has been fulfilling its manifesto promises.
“We had the challenges of dealing with the COVID-19, the rise in cost of living and the war in Ukraine, rising fuel prices. The challenge is with the supply chain and amidst all of this, we had to deliver on our manifesto commitments.

And so, we did not use COVID, we did not use inflation, we did not use the escalating cost of living to make excuses for why we should not or could not deliver on our commitments. We take the commitments in our manifesto very seriously,” the Minister said.
Under the leadership of His Excellency, Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali, significant investments have been made to improve the country’s infrastructure to ensure a modernised society. The Minister spoke of the largest contract signing so far of US$260 million for the construction of a new Demerara River bridge, the first-ever concrete highway from Mandela to Eccles and the commencement of the second phase of the road project from Eccles to Diamond.
Additionally, the country has a most ‘envied’ 50,000 house lot housing programme as well as a water programme which seeks to attain 100 per cent treated water countrywide by 2025.
She also spoke about the progress of the agriculture sector to ensure food security to allow Guyana to once more play an integral role in Caricom, and the international community.
The programme has seen the implementation of several incentives which will enhance the lives of Guyanese through educational opportunities provided through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), reducing taxes, electricity and water costs, and increasing old age pension, among other services.
“We have a Government in Guyana that will use its oil and gas resources and wealth to transform our country, to transform our infrastructure in order to transform lives. That is what we have to do, and it is a balancing act,” she stated.
Notwithstanding this, meeting with citizens on a community level remains a priority for Government to achieve its overall goal. This approach, she noted will renew trust in the Government.
The Minister made a call to the diaspora to return home and benefit from the transformation that is ongoing.