‘It hurts my heart to hear about suicide’
–President Granger tells Anna Regina rally
PRESIDENT David Granger has tied the high incidence of suicide and other social ills in Region 2, Pomeroon-Supenaam, to a breakdown in local democracy over the past two decades.
Minister of Communities, Mr. Ronald Bulkan, during his address at Anna Regina
Speaking to Anna Regina residents on Friday, the President said the situation is not limited to Region 2, but all communities across the country are affected. He emphasised the importance of problem-solving at the community level, and called for the strengthening of community policing.
“It hurts my heart to hear about suicide. It pains me to hear about some old widow (being) raped and murdered…there must be better community policing. The police must know what is going on in the communities…the community policing [groups] must know what is going on, to protect that person’s life,” he said.
President Granger called on those who would be elected Council members after the much-anticipated Local Government Elections (LGEs) on March 18 to focus on job creation and education, in order to create an educated region and a generation of entrepreneurs who will use the region’s abundant resources to transform it into an economic powerhouse. He also said that education is the key to the reduction of social ills.
“It is your job as members of the Anna Region Town Council to reduce inequalities, so we don’t have extreme poverty…enable the poor to empower themselves, to enrich themselves, especially through education and employment. We want to have more equality. Once there is inequality, you are going to have social problems; you are going to have domination; you are going to have discrimination; you are going to have exploitation,” he said.
During his address in Anna Regina last evening, President David Granger told residents of Pomeroon-Supenaam that they have the right to make decisions that would benefit their own communities
Government, the President vowed, will work with local authorities to ensure that developmental goals are met. He stressed that returning power to the people — to allow them to manage the affairs of their communities while advancing the development of their regions — has been Government’s first priority.
Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, said that Ministry will ensure that neighbourhood democratic councils (NDCs) and municipalities benefit from institutional strengthening and capacity building programmes. He said government will see to it that councils are not starved of resources, and noted that Central Government will never again usurp the role of local administrative bodies.
“This administration does not believe in dominating all of the power; but it believes in decentralization, and it believes in empowerment, and it believes in handing power to the people,” Bulkan said.
He added that this approach is enshrined in Guyana’s Constitution in order to ensure good governance; and although the holding of LGE comes at a significant cost, it is an important investment.
“The elections that will take place one week from today will represent a victory in the two decades’ struggle for the return to local democracy… It represents a huge investment, but it is one that this administration is convinced of its necessity; and the price tag that it comes with — of some $1.3B – represents, as far as this administration is concerned, an investment in deepening the democratic process and returning democracy and handing power to people in our communities, to enable them to manage their own affairs,” the Minister of Communities stated.
Adding to the discourse was Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, who said, “You deserve to be able to sit down around the table with your colleagues and comrades, with your neighbours, to decide how this beautiful town will be developed.”
The President was also accompanied by Minister of Social Cohesion, Amna Ally, and Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence.
(Ministry of the Presidency)