President greeted with protesters in Berbice

…to convene regional and community administration forum

President David Granger was on Friday greeted by protesters when he visited Fyrish Village, on the Corentyne Coast, in Berbice.
Upset People’s Progressive Party (PPP) supporters held placards and chanted as the presidential entourage turned out of the Berbice Bridge Road and onto Palmyra Road enroot to Fyrish – a village the President has now visited several times since taking office less than three years ago.

As the entourage approached and turned, some of the chants that were heard were directly meant for the President; ‘We need jobs,’ ‘Fyrish alone in not Berbice,’ ‘Granger can’t be trusted,’ ‘Respect sugar workers,’ among others.
The President was on his way to Fyrish to meet with officials from the 16 Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The PPP had vowed to protest every Government Minister that goes to Region Six after President David Granger unilaterally appointed 84-year-old retired High Court Judge, Justice James Patterson, as the new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission; an appointment which the Opposition did not support and has since called on the President to reverse.

Regional Coordinator Zamal Hussain addressing the media from the picket line said the party had taken note, the fact that the President was taking his fourth visit to Fyrish.
“We are concerned because the President is here again and he is not attending to the sugar workers issue and he is visiting Fyrish very often and not other parts of the region. We as a party know that he is visiting one particular community and the rest of Region Six is in total shambles. We are asking that the President look at the residents of Region Six and not a particular community.”
The protest was also over the GECOM issue and the subsidy to sugar workers.
Hussain noted that in a February meeting, the RDC passed a motion for Government to provide, and finance, transportation for the children of severed sugar workers in the Rose Hall Canje/East Bank Berbice area and in the areas from Crabwood Creek to Number 56 Village on the Corentyne.
Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Six, Kim Williams-Stephen had shown reluctance to pen a letter to the Government. Hussain said the REO has not indicated to regional officials that the letter had been written and as such the party is concerned.
Meanwhile, President David Granger, announced that he will convene a region-wide conference engaging officials from the 16 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs), the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), overseers and other regional officials of the Region (Region Six) with a view to addressing the problems that are being faced at the local level, so that the citizens at the community level can enjoy a higher quality of service from their respective local Government organs.

“I am committed to local government because I believe that the whole system of administration in this country rests on the NDCs; rests at the local level… this is the level at which true democracy prevails,” the Head of State said.
Speaking at a meeting with NDC representatives at the Fyrish Skills Training Centre, the President explained that a new budget cycle begins on July 1, and, therefore, these discussions will serve to identify priority areas for which provisions can be made in 2019 budget. “We have to make sure that the NDC’S are not treated like some sort of sideshow or like they don’t matter; they matter. They are part of the Government system which, as I said, is in three-tiered; central, regional and local and if you are part of the system and your foundation collapses, your structure will fall,” President Granger said.
The Head of State spoke of the need to improve the quality of representation at the level of the NDCs, noting that there are many areas that are neglected and as such, residents in those areas are disinclined to cooperate and to pay rates and taxes. “I believe in regions, I believe in regionalism. We have to continue to do mobilisation on a regional basis regardless of NDC regardless of constituency, regardless of the political party, regardless of ethnicity. We have to mobilise this region so that there is the fullest participation,” he said.