O
pposition Leader Aubrey Norton says a recent visit to Linden by President Dr. Irfaan Ali will not solve the issues of Region 10, even though the Head of State has promised development there.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali at the weekend visited the district of Linden to listen to concerns of residents within that community. A number of issues were raised with the Head of State concerning regional development and opportunities for growth.
However, during a press conference on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton raised concerns about the visit, citing that the issues of Region 10, especially Linden, have existed for decades.
“Going into a community is not addressing concerns. The President went to Linden yesterday [and] apart from the fact that he walked with a very large contingent, he passed the call centre where they promised to create jobs and that call centre is virtually on the verge of closing.” Norton said.
Norton further accused the Government of providing contracts to persons outside of the region. “Tell me if going to Linden and meeting the people begin to solve the problem of more than 70% of the contracts in region 10 going to PPP people and people outside of region 10. If you are serious about region 10, you will seek to build capacity.” He noted.
Meanwhile, during his visit on Sunday, President Ali told residents of the district that the administration had a number of developmental projects set aside for region 10.
“We are focusing on some big things. Like right now, we are discussing to see how we could get the new Wismar Bridge across the demerara, the Linden-Mabura hill road, which will open up many opportunities for Linden to become a major service hub for the mining sector. Nevertheless, we also have to make sure that we train the young people […] as Operators and so on.” The Head of State noted.
