By Nicole Telford- “The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Government is disingenuous about the growth of Linden citizens and its economy.” This is the belief of Mr. Deron Adams, Regional Chairman, Region 10 Regional Democratic Council.
In an exclusive interview with Village Voice News Adams explained that “under the A Partnership of National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government some $150 million was first injected into Linden Enterprise Network (LEN) to assist small businesses.” This, he added, “was to facilitate easy access to loans to farmers and small business owners.” That fund has since grown to $300 million, he said, because persons have been paying back their loans. He added too, that “any default in the system rest with the PPP/C government since central government is responsible for putting safety nets in place for borrowers to repay their loans to that lending institution.”
According to Adams, several boards in Linden have not been activated since August 2020. The PPP/C has taken over the reign of Government on August 2, 2022.
Adams informed, “we are seeing at the Linden Hospital Complex, for the past three years, one person, the new Chief Executive Officer sits there without a full board, making unilateral decisions in the health sector. The two most important boards, the one that deals with the health of our people and the one that deals with the funding and empowerment for owners of small businesses in Linden have not been established by the PPP/C government.”
Adams queried, “Why would any government be giving out $250,000 to persons when you have $3 million in an account that was started under the APNU/AFC government at LEN and not be opening it to its people?”
Explaining the gravity of the situation, Adams highlighted the PPP/C’s refusal to activate the fund is subduing the potential of farmers and business operators’ access to larger loans from that revolving fund.
Going further, he said the government’s failure to establish the boards are stifling the economy.
“They have now placed political people there and persons linked to the Office of the Prime Minister and other PPP/C supporters handling cash grants instead of reconstituting the LEN board.”
The Regional Chairman said he wishes to remind Lindeners that “the PPP/C government tried to take away the operation of the Linden Sports Club and that club is owned by members of Linden.”
He assured that “your (Region 10 RDC) leaders will never let that happen.”
The regional chairman further informed “the PPP/C continues to visit Region 10 without informing the regional and local governments, your elected officials who you voted for, but they seek to engage with their political supporters, and leave both the Mayor and Town Council and the Regional Democratic Council out of what is happening.”
Adams made known that both LM&TC and the RDC will remain steadfast in their advocacy of the Region.
“The leaders in Linden will continue to agitate by engaging with the ABCE countries and use every avenue possible to let the government know that Guyanese living in the Upper-Demerara Upper-Berbice region should benefit equitably from the patrimony that the government of the day holds in trust for all Guyanese.”
Region 10 RDC will hold PPP/C government accountable
Drawing attention to the PPP/C’ s boast of developing the region, Adams challenged anyone “to list one critical project PPP/C government did that’s transformational in Linden since they came to office in 2020.
He recalled all the programmes currently being done “were conceptualised by the APNU/AFC coalition government,” adding that “even the PPP/C government ‘One Guyana’ initiative was a 2006 campaign slogan of the Peoples National Congress under Robert Corbin.”
The Chairman also used the opportunity to congratulate his fellow Lindeners who would have participated in the recently held Local Government Elections (LGE).
“Lindeners who voted overwhelmingly must be applauded.” He noted that for the first time “we would have seen a 37.5% percent turnout rate in the region for LGE.”
The regional leader said he wants to now remind Lindeners that their leaders will keep pushing to hold the PPP/C accountable for all that was promised Linden by its government during the recently held LGE.
Adams listed, “especially the increase in subvention to the Linden Municipality and added that “all that was in APNU/AFC manifesto which includes the dredging of the Kara Kara Creek area so that the people of Kara Kara and Spiegthland can get relief from flooding during the rainy season and the digitising of the Linden Mayor and Town Council Records which are some of the many issues we would be agitating for and asking our citizens to stand firm for development.”
Non-completion of Bamia School
The Regional Chairman said he hopes to see some training being offered for new and emerging contractors adding that this is to minimise “the 70% of all contracts from Linden going to contractors outside of the region.
Adams explained that he is asking for the government to address training where there is need, giving the situation at Bamia where the school that was supposed to be completed to facilitate children in the 2023 September term.”
According to him “we had warned the government that the contractor they awarded to build a new school at Bamia was not knowledgeable in that particular field.”
Mr. Adams added that “the government should have reconsidered going back to tender the project, but they went ahead instead and awarded the contract to statement investment, over $150 million that company has already received and cannot complete the first floor of the school and the school should have been handed over on the 26th July 2023.”
Adams pointed out the failure of the contractor to complete the work timely “leaves the students in the catchment area along the Linden Soesdyke Highway, Bamia and Amelia’s Ward without a school for the September school term.”
The situation he added “leaves parents facing transportation cost for travelling miles to schools in the central township in an already struggling community and economy.”
