President David Granger has called on the newly elected Regional Chairpersons and their deputies to be regional leaders and not “party chairmen”.
On Friday, the officials were sworn in before President David Granger at the Ministry of the Presidency.
Those sworn in as Regional Chairpersons are: Brentnol Ashley, Region One; Devanand Ramdatt, Region Two; Julius A Faeber, Region Three; Genevieve Allen, Region Four; Vickchand Ramphal, Region Five; David Armogan, Region Six; Gordon Bradford, Region Seven; Bonnaventure Fredricks, Region Eight; Bryan Allicock, Region Nine and Renis Morian, Region Ten.
The Regional Vice-Chairpersons are; Sarah Browne, Region One; Juliet Coonjah, Region Two; Inshaan Ayube, Region Three; Earl Lambert, Region Four; Rion Peters, Region Five; Dennis DeRoop, Region Six; Olinda Griffith, Region Seven, Headley Pio, Region Eight; Carl Singh, Region Nine and Elroy Adolphus, Region Ten.
After taking their oath of Office, the President in his charge to the chairpersons and their deputies urged them to take their oath seriously.
“I’d like to encourage you to pay close attention to the words that you uttered, the oath that you took, and the documents that you signed, in a flash you have decided to administer the 10 regions of Guyana, without fear or favour, affection or ill will.”
Pointing to the seriousness of the oath, the President told the officers that they are expected to administer those regions for the benefit of all the residents. “It is not an idle oath, it is something that you must take seriously, when I was sworn in as President of this country those were the words that I uttered on the 16 of May, I said I’m the President for all of Guyana.”
Regional Vice Chairpersons
In this light, the President said all the people of Guyana must have access to him as President and to the good things that flow from his administration. “Similarly in your region, all the people in your region, regardless of their religion or their ethnicity , regardless of what part of the region they are from, must get the benefits of your judgment, must get the benefits of your good will.
Speaking of how important each administrative region is to his administration, the President said in his mind the regions are hybrids of central government and local government hence if the regions do not succeed the country will not thrive. It is for this reason, the President said central and local government must come with the aim of building 10 strong regions, which will eventually build a stronger country.
Equally important too, the President said is for, civil society, councillors, social partners and other stakeholders to be involved in decision making for the regions’ best interest.
“I would like you to examine your regions and work out a plan…I call it the Plan of Action for Regional Development, and I would like to see all of you develop some sort of plan of action for regional development.”
The President said that even as these plans are being crafted, serious consideration must be given to clearly defined economic goals.
“Every single region can be rich, no region is desert, no region is swamp land, and every region has resources, human resources, material and natural resources, and we must decide how those resources must be exploited in order to benefit our people.”
The chairpersons were also advised on the importance of going after investments for their respective regions as plans are on stream for creating more towns in the regions, with the aim of attracting more investments.
Infrastructural development in the various regions is also important, President Granger said as he pointed to the need for state-of-the-art sport facilities, technical institutes, banks, and upgraded aerodrome.
“I want to see the regions developing in themselves and for themselves, producing a high standard of education, high standard of employment.”
Further, the President also encouraged those regions with resources to produce hydro electricity to play their role and come up with initiatives that will benefit themselves and all of Guyana.
The President also took the opportunity to congratulate the newly elected officers as he called on them to embrace the plan of action for regional development. (GINA)
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