Pres Ali announces $1B in investments for Deep South Rupununi for 2024

– cassava mill, security assistance for border towns among interventions

Accompanied by an entourage of Government Ministers, President Dr. Irfaan Ali toured several villages in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) between Friday and Saturday, where he listened to the concerns of the people, and made interventions wherever possible.
During his visit to Karaudarnau Village, President Ali unveiled plans for multimillion-dollar investments in several areas in order to bolster support for Amerindian villages in the Deep South Rupununi, and reassured residents of Karaudarnau and contiguous villages of the Government’s promises and initiatives aimed at enhancing efforts to integrate Amerindian communities.
In announcing upcoming projects in the Deep South Rupununi, President Ali outlined plans for $200 million to be invested in road construction and for another $250 million to be invested in school development; and in regard to rapid improvements being seen in terms of provision of medical services in the area, Ali noted that surgeries can now be undertaken in the area, due to various investments made in both quality of infrastructure and personnel.

Cassava
Meanwhile, the President also visited the community of Nappi on Saturday, where he announced the rollout of an initiative that would see several Amerindian communities in the Rupununi benefiting from over $100 million in interventions, including one million pounds of cassava being distributed across Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

These interventions come on the heels of residents facing massive destruction of their crops due to the dry weather conditions and wildfires that have been wreaking havoc across the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region recently.
In fact, during his outreach to Potarinau in Region Nine on Friday, an official from the South Central Rupununi village of Quiko requested assistance.
“I’m requesting, on behalf of Quiko and the rest of villages, to you and your government, support financially or some (other) sort of support, since our cassava crops have been damaged by heat or wildfire, leaving us with next to nothing,” the resident had stated.
President Ali immediately informed the gathering that some 500,000lbs of cassava had been brought in to be distributed to the Deep South communities, and another 500,000lbs would be brought in for the communities in the South-Central area.
President Ali told residents of Nappi Village, during another outreach on Saturday, that this intervention had started days before any request was made.
“We knew that you’re suffering because of the weather and the cassava crop was bad, and heat destroyed the cassava…Without you asking – although we did not plan for, we did not budget for it – three days ago, we delivered 500,000lbs of cassava to Deep South (worth) $20 million,” he informed his audience. “And in the coming week, in our eight communities in this sub-sector, we will deliver another 500,000lbs of cassava, valued at $20 million, and that is without the transportation costs. But I told the REO (Regional Executive Officer) to support you in these villages,” the President disclosed. He said this support would ensure the communities have sustainability and value-added in their production.
The Head of State also noted that the Government is deeply concerned about the impact the current dry weather is having on communities, not just on their crops, but also their access to potable water.
“Even without you asking, we are going to install a cassava mill, and we’ll start it within 14 days, right here to service these communities around here. (That is)another $20 million investment. By the time we’re finished on this one (cassava) initiative alone, we’ll spend more than $100 million that we did not budget for, but which is expended because of the love which we have for you and the love which you have shared with us,” President Ali told Nappi residents.
Meanwhile, to support the economies in these villages, the President also announced plans to establish a ‘Buyers’ Hub’ – an initiative that would see members of the Men on Mission (MoM) taking excess produce from Amerindian communities in the Region and finding markets for them.
“We’ll procure those mangoes and fruits, so that we can have a constant market for you and we can buy your excess production,” Ali stated.

Security
Security has been another issue raised during the President’s visit, with one villager revealing that he and others in the village had applied for firearms, but they are still waiting after close to two years.
“The duplicates that I had, the termites already destroy them. I’m just requesting that if they say no to our application, we can’t get the firearm, at least notify us to say your application was not approved or something. Because we are waiting so long and there is no response with what is happening to our applications,” the resident expressed. According to the villager, he and his peers have letters of acknowledgement of their applications, but nothing else.
In response, President Ali assured that Government is working on a solution to bolster security in border towns, and has a different approach to Community Policing Groups (CPG).
“We are working on a programme now, with the Guyana Defence Force, to see how we can collaborate on different types of activities; like the border patrol, CPG, and the reserve training that we have. So, hopefully, within the coming weeks, we can find a solution that would allow us, especially in border towns, to have a different approach with CPG,” President Ali said.