Granger encourages agro-processing, micro-enterprise at Baracara

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People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Leader Brigadier (retired) David Granger met scores of Baracara villagers to listen to their problems and to encourage them to embark on agro-processing and micro-enterprise projects.
Baracara, a remote settlement located about 80 kilometres up the Canje River in East Berbice, Corentyne region, is one of the oldest, continuously occupied communities in the country.
It has, however, suffered administrative, infrastructural and economic neglect from both the regional administration and central government, the PNCR said in a statement.

PNCR leader David Granger addressing residents of Baracara
PNCR leader David Granger addressing residents of Baracara

According to the PNCR, villagers expressed their concern about rising unemployment of school leavers and the dysfunctional public education system which is producing an unmanageable number of dropouts. There are no central electricity, telephone or pure water supply systems.
Villagers also raised a wide range of local concerns – including the high cost of transportation to the coast and lack of proper sporting and leisure facilities for young people – in their historic community. Farmlands are frequently flooded and their crops and cattle suffer.
Granger learnt also that students attending secondary schools in New Amsterdam do not have access to a hostel, a facility that is usually available elsewhere to hinterland students.
The PNCR Leader said central government and the regional administration had roles to play in addressing the villagers’ concerns.
Granger challenged the community to turn their distress into success by creating value- added products through agro-processing and the promotion of cottage industries.
The PNCR leader was accompanied on his visit by three A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parliamentarians – Annette Ferguson, Jennifer Wade and Winston Felix – and Region Five and Six councillors.

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