Reaching out in Essequibo
Editorial
THE administration's outreach programme which continues on the Essequibo Coast today will cover a lot of ground until its scheduled end Sunday. Like they did in Berbice and Linden, President Bharrat Jagdeo and his Cabinet members are to mainly meet people in their communities to be briefed first hand on their problems and concerns and to update them on the government's plans. In terms of the public response to these historic outreach sessions to take the government to the people, bringing the policymakers in direct contact with the communities, Berbice and Linden were successes. The President and the Cabinet were received with enthusiasm by people everywhere in the first two tours and there's no reason to expect Essequibians to be different. Essequibians have much on their minds they would want the administration to give priority to - they would certainly want their main road that has been dogged by problems for longer than they would care to remember, fixed pretty quickly and would be looking to President Jagdeo to keep his promise on this issue. As we reported yesterday from speaking with some businessmen and other residents, Essequibians will be looking to raise a string of other matters with the President and his Cabinet. A businessman is worried about unfair competition due to the importation of extra-regional vegetable and cooking oil smuggled into Guyana through Suriname and Brazil and others are concerned at the loss of revenue to the Government through the non-payment of the Common External Tariff (CET) and completion of roads and bridges. Among other matters they said they will seek to raise are inadequate ferry service; not enough duty-free concessions for local manufacturers and abuse of official power by some regional officials. Desilting of the canals in Pomeroon; the floating wharf at Charity issue; blocking of roadsides by vendors and non-payment of outstanding monies owed by the Greek contracting firm Technodomi which had worked on the Essequibo road are also on their list of concerns. But above all, the real value in these visits is the determination to reach out to the people - the "new approach" of Mr Jagdeo that puts "inclusivity and a getting-things-done attitude" as the "most important elements". Getting roads and bridges fixed, schools, hospitals and health centres repaired and looking after the myriad other everyday problems of people in a struggling underdeveloped country are issues of vital importance. But equally critical is building trust among people - hope for the future and firm indications that concrete work is what is important for a better day ahead for all. The Cabinet outreach sessions are important milestones in the road towards more creative approaches in the task of nation building since staying close to the people is what really ought to count. They are not easily fooled and promises made would have to be kept. That's why, we repeat, keeping a check list of things to be done and that have been done is also critically important in this new wave of reaching out by the administration.
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