President Irfaan Ali has assured the residents of Kaikan, Region Seven (Cuyuni Mazaruni) that his Administration will include the community in its developmental plans. He said the lives of all Guyanese will be improved during his tenure as President.
Ali was at the time addressing residents and ranks of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in the community which borders Venezuela on Thursday.
“Today, I’m here to learn more from you about your challenges and to share with you some of our plans, geared to improving our lives and ensuring that we build a better future for all Guyanese, including you and this village,” he said revealing that Kaikan will benefit from educational programmes, ICT and Technical Vocational Training and improved access to health care service.
“We will be expanding our services to all the regions in Guyana to ensure that young people have equal access to not only primary and secondary education, but importantly also for those who want to pursue university education and technical education,” he assured.
Additionally, President Ali informed that there will be the implementation of a new Nutrition Programme to adequately address the needs of children, particularly in riverain communities.
“To our children, I want you to know that in our programme, we have restored the uniform grant, especially to children in the hinterland and riverain communities. But importantly, in our next budget, we are addressing nutrition programmes, nutritional needs to ensure that when our children go to school they will have the right meals. And your village of course will not be excluded from this programme.”
President Ali said too that his Government will be engaging Toshaos and Town Councils with the intent of developing livelihood and social programmes to cater to the needs of their communities.
“It is important that communities themselves identify what their priorities are. I want to assure you that the government and the cabinet will be reaching out to these communities, to your community in a continuous basis,” he said.
Further, Ali said that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will play a major role in the development of the community as he disclosed that National Security Advisor Jerry Gouveia and a team will visit the community to gauge ways in which programmes and projects can be implemented.
“I want to assure you before I close, that my Government intends to win your trust, my Government intends to work closely with all of you to ensure that no family, no community, is left out from the development and advancement of our country regardless of where those communities are,” the President said.
President Ali distributed 100 relief hampers to residents and almost the same amount of toys to children in the community. Kaikan’s Toshao Marlon Williams thanked the President for his visit.
Meanwhile, President Ali joined residents and teachers of the Kaikan Primary School to unveil a new signboard, which was constructed by the GDF ranks stationed there.
“Let me say how very pleased I am with our soldiers, men and women in uniform and the leadership of the army for this initiative. This is what we’ve been talking about; great involvement in the community, greater participation, building your new relationship and solidifying those relationships.”
He said that the Kaikan Primary School was completely rehabilitated by the army ranks who also installed the solar system at the school.
Headmistress, Nekeita Peters said the School accommodates 70 children from both the primary and the nursery levels.
She thanked the President and the soldiers for the signboard.
