– govt also commits to road construction and other social amenities
President Jagdeo interacting with children at Dazzel Housing Scheme
Residents of Dazzel Housing Scheme, situated behind Paradise on the East Coast of Demerara, will have their water problems alleviated this year, after President Bharrat Jagdeo intervened in the co-op society-run community.
During a meeting with residents at a church in the area on Saturday, Jagdeo said that he would reduce to one year the three-year phased programme undertaken by the Housing and Water Ministry, allowing residents to benefit from improved access to the essential commodity.
The community lacked essential amenities, such as water and proper roads. Provision of such facilities has been the responsibility of the co-op society; but President Jagdeo, while acknowledging that such a system has disadvantaged many citizens, pointed out that Guyanese have access to state resources. “It is your right,” he told residents. “I cannot allow any area to be left behind because of this (co-op society).” This declaration was met with resounding applause from the audience, members of which fended for themselves in regard to providing water for potable use in the area.
The entire water project will cost some Gy$60 million. It had been undertaken in a phased manner, as was construction of the 24 streets in the community. By the end of last year, 12 of these streets, due to have been completed, were still works in progress – a situation that greatly displeased residents.
President Jagdeo noted that he would examine the issue of completing the roads, but he pointed out that it was best that the pipe network for the water be laid first. The funds for this initiative would be made available after the National Budget has been approved.
With 1022 residential lots and a growing population, residents said, they were in dire need of a nursery school in that East Coast community.
In response, the president committed to send in a team of officials next week to conduct the feasibility study to enable construction of a nursery school for the new school term, which starts in September.
Children of the community normally attend the Melanie Nursery School, located some miles away from the Dazzel Housing Scheme, and that school has now become overcrowded.
The president dedicated some of his time to listen to the other concerns of the residents, many of which he committed to have addressed through the relevant agencies. Meanwhile, the head of state told the residents that Guyana is doing much better now, and the government can afford to spend more to improve the lives of citizens. He reminded them that, over the past several years, the country was using up most of its money to repay loans. Now, he said, Guyana has the lowest debt service rate in the Caribbean and is consequently able to spend 96 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to finance development.
resident Jagdeo addressing residents of Dazzel Housing Scheme
Accordingly, much of this money is being used to ensure that citizens are comfortable through investment in the social sectors, like health, education and an expansive housing drive. Housing Minister Irfaan Ali, who accompanied the president to visit the Dazzel residents, told the gathering that these works were only recently initiated because the related legal issues were recently sorted out. He also said that the works were being done in a phased approach over the next three years.
While at Dazzel, the minister distributed land titles to some 180 persons, explaining to them the importance of this new empowerment. He pointed out that a number of persons are yet to sign up for their land titles, and he called on those to do so in order that the project could be rapidly completed.
In the 2010 National Budget, Health was allocated some Gy$14B, Education Gy$24B and Housing more than Gy$5 billion.
