Georgetown : President Donald Ramotar responding to questions by Amerindian leaders during the Annual Toshaos Conference reassured that projects in the Hinterland will continue as planned despite challenges.
Concerns about the quality of work on some projects in the hinterland prompted President Ramotar to reinforce the mandate for villages and communities to obtain and peruse details of contracts awarded to their areas.
“You… have to ensure that you see what the government is paying for and you ensure that you get what the government is paying for to enhance the quality of service in your community,” President Ramotar said.
The President and his ministers responded to questions from the Toshaos about the arrival of solar panels for the hinterland electrification project which is expected to supply 11,000 home systems. This process began late last year and over 1720 were distributed with 8,000 planned for this year.
Several Toshaos are also anxiously awaiting the land titling and extension exercise for which $18.3B from the anticipated forest carbon funds has been earmarked. Villages like Nappi that have been approved in the first year of the land titling and demarcation process now have to wait much longer because of the budget cuts.
Prior to the budget cut scenario the Government had to put up with delays in the release of the funds from US$70M deposited in the Guyana REDD + Investment Fund (GRIF) that the country earned through a forest carbon partnership agreement with the Government of Norway.
With the reopening of schools in September,the Toshaos are concerned about the Linden protest and its implication on the flow of necessary resources to their villages.
The new school term will see students occupying a new secondary school at Sand Creek, Region Nine that comes with a dorm to house 1000 Amerindian students from catchment areas within the Region.
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