President Ali distributes 800 food hampers to Berbice residents

President Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday distributed in excess of 800 food hampers to residents of East Canje, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), who are directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his inaugural visit to the Ancient County since ascending to office, Ali recommitted to fulfilling the promises made by his Government on the campaign trail.
“We are 100 per cent committed to those assurances of bring back the jobs, creating opportunities, making lives better and easier. We would have liked to commence this five months ago when you rightfully elected us as Government.”
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the President met with several small groups of people in Gangarram, Betsy Ground, Goed Bananen Land, Adelphi, Reliance and Rosehall.
Ali explained that residents in East Canje have experienced difficulties since the closure of the sugar estate.
However, on the brighter side, Ali said all of the promises the party made to Guyana will be fulfilled.
“We are not shying away from that. I want to assure you that we are going to work aggressively every day to ensure that economic livelihood returns to these communities. We will work on supporting your own livelihood,” he told residents at Gangarram.

Gangarram was hit the hardest when the previous Administration closed the Rosehall Sugar Estate in December 2016, leaving 1181 workers jobless.
In fact, the APNU/AFC Government closed the Rosehall and Skeldon Estates, leaving only the Albion Estate in operation.
A total of 1851 workers were sacked from the Skeldon Sugar Estate; another 1480 from the East Demerara Sugar Estate and 251 from the Wales Sugar Estate.
“We are going to work on ensuring that those sugar estates get back into production and that those jobs that were lost they get them back in the community,” Ali posited.
Meanwhile, addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, the Head of State asked persons to observe all the guidelines that were put in place.
He explained that $5 billion has already been approved for COVID-19 relief but Government is seeking to raise an additional $2 billion as plans are underway to ensure that every household receives financial assistance.
“Outside of the household foodstuff we are trying to put money into every single family’s home,” the President announced.
“We do not know how long we would have to put additional support in the healthcare system and the education system. We are also setting aside resources to ensure that during this period our children are not divorced from academics.”
The President noted that later this week, he will address the nation on immediate measures to be implemented to reignite the economy.