Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Public Affairs Minister Kwame McCoy distributed hampers to over 100 families in the Kingston community, downtown Georgetown on Saturday.
Prime Minister, Mark Phillips, engaging residents of Kingston (Delano Williams photo)
The Prime Minister, who was accompanied by his wife, Mignon Bowen-Phillips, also interacted with residents, and during his interaction, he informed them that the government is committed to ensuring every Guyanese enjoy a better quality of life.
The residents told Prime Minister Phillips that they would like to see the government pay more attention to water and housing issues as well as employment.
Wife of the Prime Minister, Mignon Bowen-Phillips, presenting a relief package to a family (Delano Williams photo)
In response, the Prime Minister said that the government would become very active in creating jobs and putting initiatives in place to cater to better housing and land allocation. Following his interaction with the residents, Prime Minister Phillips said the good gesture was “just a drop in the bucket” in terms of relief efforts that will be provided by the government.
“This is something that is going to go on for the rest of the year and into next year because, as we prepare the budget, we recognise that we have vulnerable communities in Guyana because of COVID-19 and because of poverty in general, and it is our plan to address not only the vulnerable communities because of COVID-19 but to address poverty on the whole in a comprehensive manner,” the Prime Minister said.
He said the government would also re-introduce the One Laptop per Family initiative, which would be very useful in working remotely in light of COVID-19. This aside, efforts were being made to introduce educational programmes on television for students all across Guyana, and a $25,000 cash grant per household will be provided.
Minister McCoy said that the government cared about the people and is living up to its promises to provide a better Guyana for all Guyanese. COVID-19, he said, had brought about certain challenges, and the government has recognised them and was providing as much help as possible.
“Our objective as a government is to make people’s lives much better and to make them more comfortable and to have them own their own home, and such like,” Minister McCoy said.
The residents lauded the initiative and said it was “much needed” as they thanked the government.
Kingston resident Adveira Brown, 82, was very happy for the government’s kind gesture and was also appreciative of the government’s effort to provide a $25,000 cash grant per household.
“I think it’s good because I have rates and taxes to pay, and I have light bill to pay, so that would come in to pay that.”
Another resident, Roxanne Gentle, expressed similar sentiments. Members of the Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) collaborated with the government to provide the hampers for distribution.
[Extracted and Modified from Guyana Chronicle]
EDITOR’S NOTE: The funds used to secure the hampers on the government side are from taxpayers’ monies.
