PPP/C promises “massive, unthinkable transformation” for Bartica in next 5 years

– as PNC-led APNU’s hold on township dwindles

President Dr Irfaan Ali on Sunday promised remarkable development for Bartica and the wider Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) under the next People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, with massive investments aimed at diversifying the local economy.

“This country is going to undergo massive, remarkable, unbelievable, unthinkable transformation in the next five years and I want to assure all the residents of Region Seven that you will be part of the transformation,” Ali told thousands of supporters at a PPP/C fund-raising event held in Bartica on Sunday.

The PPP/C event came hours after A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) kicked off its 2025 elections campaign with a sparsely-attended public meeting on Saturday evening. For decades, Bartica has been a stronghold of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) – the largest party in the APNU Coalition.
Saturday night’s meeting was led by Bartica-born Juretha Fernandes – APNU’s Prime Ministerial Candidate, who laid out the party’s plans to enhance the lives of citizens in the township. Those plans include increased social welfare support like pension, cost of living assistance, support for small businesses and empowerment of indigenous communities. Other interventions Fernandes detailed included water and electricity subsidies as well as a 15 per cent tax reduction on four-door pickups to benefit miners. However, the PPP/C had already announced earlier on Saturday at a public meeting in Moruca, Region One, that they would make ownership of four-door, double-cab vehicles easier with less taxes, as well as remove the duties on outboard engines up to 150hp and on ATVs for every citizen in hinterland and riverine communities. These were reiterated Sunday morning by President Ali, who is seeking re-election at the upcoming September 1 polls, in Bartica, where he declared, “We are going to reduce the taxes because we want more money in your pockets. We want more disposable income available for the people of our country.” Ali went on to highlight some of the initiatives the township can expect over the next five years under the next PPP/C Administration.

World-class regatta
Key among them is an economic diversification plan for Bartica. Though the township is primarily known as a mining town, Ali says the future of Bartica must not be defined by that, given its potential for tourism and agricultural development. “The next five years [will be] about investing in Region Seven to diversify your economy,” he stressed. The President announced plans to transform the Bartica Regatta into a “world-class” event, giving incentives and tax breaks to make this happen.
He also disclosed that a local businessman is willing to make available 10 acres of land in Bartica to do the most “scientific and transformative integrated agriculture project,” targeting young people across the entire region.
“So, you, right here in Region Seven, will be supplying the mines with the vegetables, the fruits, the livestock, the meat and everything they need to sustain themselves in the interior… That is how we’re building a resilient, strong, diversified economy here in Region Seven,” he added.
Moreover, President Ali said there would be efforts to coordinate and create a transport and logistics ecosystem to support the seven quarry operations in the region in order to make the material not only readily available for the local construction sector but also the wider Caribbean region.
“So, all the roads we’re going to build from Sand Hill [Timehri] coming to Bartica, the Goshen Road [Parika] coming to Bartica, all the new highways going to Lethem [and] opening up hundreds of thousands of acres of new land, must be built with our stones made in Guyana,” he declared.
Ali also welcomed leaders in Bartica, including former Mayor Gifford Marshall, who recently joined the PPP/C and embraced the party’s vision for unprecedented development across all of Guyana. The presence of thousands of persons at the PPP/C fundraiser in Bartica Sunday morning reflected the party’s growing support base across the country. In fact, the PPP/C started making inroads in Bartica at the 2023 Local Government Elections, where it saw an increase in votes while the APNU votes declined. There could be a reoccurrence of this situation at the September 1 polls, given the poor turnout at APNU’s Saturday meeting in Bartica, where the party was expecting to reclaim support through the Bartica native – Fernandes.