1500 Jobs in mining to be created
Georgetown, Guyana (May 10, 2024) His Excellency President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced his Government’s plan to make Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) the prime producer of goods and services for hinterland development.
“Region Seven, we want to see how we can invest in the economy here that will position the region to be the prime producer of goods and services for hinterland development.”
President Ali made the disclosure during a meeting with residents at the Bartica Community ground, where he explained that the Government is working on a nationwide economic development plan for every region.
He said plans include employment and training for workers in the operation of two large mines, which are expected to come on stream later this year. Residents will also benefit from continuous agricultural interventions to support the country’s self-sufficiency and food production drives.
The two new mines, President Ali said, will generate more than seven hundred job opportunities in its operational phase and will require over 1500 workers in its construction phase. He explained that with this demand, the mining companies will be providing training.
“I think they’re already in discussion with the mayor. They are in discussion with different stakeholders here, and those training programs will start very soon. So these are things that we are working on so that we can expeditiously move towards the operationalising of those large scale mines, and the full time employment of persons.”
He also highlighted the possibility of establishing a call centre in the township of Bartica to generate further employment in the region.
“I’m going to ask the technical staff to look at the feasibility of establishing a call centre, ensuring that we have enough persons to be employed because one of the things is that when we are looking for labour, the labour is in very short supply across our country,” the President explained.
The President noted, too, that through the support of transformative infrastructure, which includes the road network from “Timehri, that will come all the way through Sand Hill”, tremendous economic and tourism opportunities will be created for the region.
“We are going to continue to make these investments to ensure that the people of this region continue to benefit from the investments we are making,” he said while highlighting over $13B has been spent in the region to improve livelihoods.
Agricultural Initiatives
Development plans are wider than these new opportunities, the President noted as he explained that the government is advancing the food production drive in the region.
He said that plans are on stream for the investment of hives to boost honey production in the country.
“In this region, you will have between 400 to 500 new hives when you look at all the communities we are going to support.”
President Ali indicated that there is already a market for honey produced from communities across the country. In addition, he explained that the government will also support large-scale citrus farming and high-yielding crops in the region.
“We have also identified areas through which we want to expand citrus farming in this region. We are working on expanding the sweet cassava program, looking at high-yielding variety so we can put the land to productive use,” he added.
Transformative Health Care
Turning his attention to health, the Head of State disclosed that the Government will soon commence works on a modern hospital in Bartica.
Additionally, President Ali announced that the Ministry of Health would conduct an outreach in the township next Friday with the objective of identifying persons with surgical, ophthalmology and oncology needs and scheduling necessary medical treatment.
“Anyone in need of surgery, we will identify you, and we’ll take you…to have the surgery completed. For any woman who is on a waiting list or has not had a date scheduled for them as yet for fibroid surgery, we’re going to get that list and ensure that you get the surgery well in advance because this is something we want to bring to a complete end…”
Meanwhile, in response to concerns raised about issues related to land, President Ali committed to having a team from the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission visit the region in the new week to address those existing issues.
“We have to fix the issues, fix the problem because, at the end of the day, we want the people to have the best service that they can have,” President Ali said.
