Valerie Lowe on the campaign trail

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) have decided to craft a rescue plan to improve the living conditions of the residents of the Rupununi (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) Region (Region No. 9).

APNU and AFC conducted outreaches to over fifty villages in the north central and south savannahs so far this year. Interaction with hundreds of residents and visits to villages indicate clearly that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration has been hampering the Region’s economic and social development and hindering the happiness and welfare of the people living there.

David Granger -Presidential candidate APNU AFC

The Rupununi – larger than Costa Rica – is Guyana’s largest region. It is, however, the poorest. The results of PPP/C incompetence, after over two decades, have been the unsettled Indigenous land issues, an unsatisfactory education system and underdeveloped infrastructure. APNU+AFC will introduce the following reforms:

Land reform: Many communities are not satisfied with the lands allocated to them. Large tracts of land have been given out as mining and forestry concessions. APNU+AFC will sit down with communities and re-examine their claims with a view to settling them once and for all.

Education reform: Many children have been failing all four subjects at the annual National Grade Six Assessment examinations.Dropout rates for boys and girls in primary and secondary schools are high. APNU+AFC will ensure that schools are fully staffed and properly equipped. The Coalition will also  establish a Rupununi Technical Institute and a Rupununi Agricultural Institute.

Infrastructure reconstruction: APNU+AFC will invest in infrastructure to ensure that roads are made more accessible in any weather and bridges are reconstructed and made more sturdy. The cost of living is high largely because of the administration’s reluctance to invest in building the essential Annai-Achawib and Lethem-Linden highways.

The APNU+AFC Coalition is committed to ensuring that access to the information super highway would be made easier. Without information technology, the Region’s residents would not be able to receive the quality information, communication and education they need in their everyday lives. An APNU+AFC administration would provide distance education to enable students to pursue degree and diploma courses at the University of Guyana.

The APNU+AFC, five-day campaign travelled to Achawib, Aishalton, Awarewanau, Katoonarib, Potarinau, Sand Creek, Sawariwau, Shea and Shulinab and other mainly Wapishana villages in the South and Apoteri, Annai, Aranaputa, Crashwater, Fairview, Kwaimatta, Kwattamang, Massara, Rewa, Rupertee, Surama, Toka, Yakarinta  and other Macushi villages in the north.