20 years after Hoyte/Jagdeo Agreement Gov’t turned to Buxton with nothing substantial

Youman Nabi Message from the Guyana Trades Union Congres

Joint Statement Still Pending, Supporters Furious

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government held a meeting in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on Monday, July 4, and made several promises to the villagers. Prime Minister Mark Phillips, accompanied by seven other ministers, said the government has Buxton on its development agenda. Should this happen it will mean that taxpayers’ money will be reinvested in one of their communities.

Buxton is considered a Depressed Community. In May 2001 then Leader of the Opposition Desmond Hoyte and President Bharrat Jagdeo signed an agreement, among which included addressing the socio-economic and infrastructural development needs of depressed communities. Buxton was one such community identified for attention. The agreement was never implemented.

At the meeting Prime Minister Phillips said the government will turn attention to the community but apparently not without caveat. “If we are talking about development, we have to do away with the detractors who tried to derail this session today…. Your turn out is sending a strong message to the detractors who never wanted this to happen.”

At the time the government was having its meeting at the Buxton Community Centre there was a protest on the public road. Both started at 10:00 a.m. The protest, organised through David Hinds’ Politics 101 Programme and Kadackie Amsterdam of KAMSTV, was planned and promoted several days in advance of the government’s visit, which was announced a day prior.

Promises were made by the government to erect a temporary seating area for pensioners at the Buxton Post Office which is presently under construction; resuscitate an ICT summer camp for children in the community; have a technical team from the Ministry of Public Works conduct a site visit to assess the community’s needs, particularly the farm-to-market access road.

The government also promised the Small Business Bureau will meet with residents and small business owners; the rehabilitation of the community centre and ground. Buxtonians were encouraged to take advantage of the free learning courses, through the Guyana Online Academy for Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme.

Villagers were told of the government’s Gas to Energy Project, expected to bring benefits to citizens, including reduced energy costs and cooking gas but were not advised how the community can benefit through direct and indirect employment and other economic opportunities.

At the meeting the Civil Defense Commission distributed 250 food hampers to vulnerable families in the area. The meeting ended without Buxtonians getting any specificity about how villagers and the community will be incorporated in the Government’s Development Agenda.