Under the theme “Celebrating our traditional culture, while building One Guyana”, Amerindian month activities got underway on Thursday night with the Amerindian Heritage Cultural Extravaganza, held at the National Stadium. It was at that event where President Irfaan Ali emphasized that development must benefit all equally, regardless of race, creed or geographic location.
“Tonight, I reassure every member of our indigenous community that we stand strongly with you in ensuring that our development path will include you. Every one of you, every single family, every single region in our indigenous community, whether it’s in a riverain area, whether it’s on the hill or in the valleys, we will find you, we will work with you, and we will move you together as we build a country of prosperity for every single family.”
According to a statement from the Office of the President, he reminded that there is much to celebrate as Heritage Month festivities are ushered in, particularly the jobs created, the improved access to education as well as other investments made to improve the livelihoods of indigenous Guyanese.
The Head of State said that during his recent outreach in Region Nine, residents spoke about their needs, their aspirations and thanked the Government for returning more than 2000 jobs and for the numerous beneficial projects implemented.
“We have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to create an environment in which you can tell the story.”
Further he posited that his administration will make the necessary investments in every sector, including education, health, agriculture and infrastructure, among other areas to ensure that Amerindian communities equally access “every opportunity that is available” on the coast.
“We will make the investment to give you the bandwidth, to give you online education, every single Amerindian with a qualification that wants to be trained as a nurse, as a teacher, as a dental technician, as a medical worker, I am saying to you now, we are committing that we as a Government will train every single one of you; we will provide the opportunity, we will provide the money, we will provide an environment, and we will give you that opportunity.”
He also encouraged the nation’s first people not to be swayed away from their beliefs, their talent, their capacity, commitment, determination and strength of character to reach their fullest potential.
“We are working every day to secure your rights, to expand your freedom, to ensure you have active participation to build sustainability in your development plan”, President Ali said.