Many Pomeroon children cannot afford to attend school says Opposition Leader Norton

Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton said himself and a team paid a visit to Essequibo Coast and Pomeroon during the period Friday 1^st to Sunday 3^rd December 2023 where he met with many residents across various communities, and reassured them of the Opposition’s support of Guyana’s territorial integrity and urged residents to be both calm and vigilant.

While meeting with the residents of Kabakaburi Village in the Pomeroon River several issues were raised including:

1. The need for electricity to be supplied to the Nursery and Secondary Schools. The residents complained about an inverter being damaged on the power system hence not only the schools are out of power but the entire community.
2. Several parents expressed their disgust at the situation where the school children must wait for several hours after the dismissal of school to get home due to the lack of a school boat and some children are left stranded until 5:30 pm before getting transportation. Parents demanded that Secondary School children be given a hot meal because they are forced to be away from home for more than 12 hours.
3. Residents stressed to the Leader of the Opposition the need for a boat and engine to be placed at the Health Centre to service the Community in cases of emergencies. Presently, there is no river transport at the Kabakaburi Village Health Centre.

The Opposition also visited the Lower Pomeroon River where we met with residents of Hackney/Aberdeen and Marlborough where several issues were raised. Top of those was that many children could not afford to attend school and the fact that the communities were being discriminated against by Officials of the Region #2 Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture, National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) in the area. The residents stressed that only PPP/C officials and families are receiving service from the NDIA.

Residents highlighted several other issues plaguing the community which include:

1. Discrimination in the distribution of solar panels and internet service supply. While all the PPP-supported communities received solar panels and lights from the government, Hackney/Aberdeen and Marlborough received none.
2. The residents stressed that in this area there is the need for a school boat to transport the children since the current one is in a terrible condition leaking from both the roof and bottom. This has forced the parents to pay a total cost of over $2000 per day to send one child to school. Since many cannot afford it the children have to stay at home.
3. Farmers stated that their crops are being destroyed because of saltwater intrusion and, to date, the Ministry of Agriculture has not visited nor compensated them while farmers in other communities have already received full compensation.
4. Several residents in the area expressed concern that the Coast Guards are allowing the Spanish Warraus-Venezuelan to go into the creek unchecked and they have since become a great burden on the community and are indulging in criminal activities.