Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Monday said the government is intensifying efforts to address long-standing community concerns, including drainage, garbage collection, street lighting, security, and housing, as hundreds of citizens turned up at a ministerial outreach seeking solutions to everyday issues affecting their lives.
Speaking on the sidelines of the outreach, Jagdeo said while many persons attended to seek updates on government contracts and procurement opportunities, a significant number also raised concerns about conditions in their communities and access to government services.
“We heard a lot about issues surrounding drainage in communities, garbage collection, lights in the community,” Jagdeo said. “These are the things that we identified in the campaign and we are now addressing.”
The Vice President explained that the outreach was structured to allow citizens to engage ministers and technical officials directly in hopes of resolving issues more quickly.
Jagdeo acknowledged that while the government has started addressing several campaign promises, many citizens remain impatient for faster results amid the country’s rapid transformation.
Among the major initiatives outlined was an expanded national drainage programme, which Jagdeo said will now be accelerated to address flooding and poor drainage complaints in communities across the country.
The government is also continuing a nationwide street lighting initiative, with Jagdeo disclosing that nearly 90,000 street lights are expected to be installed in villages and communities nationwide.
“We have nearly 90,000 street lights that need to be installed in all the villages and courts in the city,” he said.
On public security, Jagdeo said approximately 2,000 security cameras are expected to be installed this year as part of efforts to improve safety in communities across Guyana.
The Vice President also pointed to ongoing investments in garbage collection systems, saying compactors have already been purchased for most neighbourhood democratic councils and municipalities.
“We are preparing places for people to take the garbage because some of the NDCs have to travel long distances,” he noted.
Housing, however, remained one of the dominant concerns raised by citizens at the outreach, according to Jagdeo, who acknowledged continued high demand for house lots and low-income homes.
“A lot of people need house lots and they need them now and they need houses,” he said.
Jagdeo stated that the administration is aiming to allocate house lots to all applicants outside of Region Four by the end of next year, while Region Four may take longer because of the large number of applications.
He also highlighted government plans to spend approximately $600 billion to construct 40,000 homes, including low-income and young professional housing developments.
“We’re trying now to accelerate the process of building the low-income homes, the young professional homes, all of that we’re working on,” he said.
Beyond community infrastructure, Jagdeo said many persons also approached the outreach seeking assistance with public assistance programmes, NIS matters and cash grant issues.
He noted that several ministries had deployed staff to the outreach specifically to help citizens resolve those concerns directly.
The Vice President added that the government is simultaneously advancing broader national development projects, including hospitals and digital transformation initiatives, while also facing challenges recruiting sufficient staff to support expanding public services.
“We are recruiting aggressively so that all the new hospitals we’re building get the highest level of service,” Jagdeo stated.
“A lot of things are happening in government… a lot behind the scenes, but people are more anxious now,” he added.
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