Speeches in the National Assembly

Ms. Williams: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise to make my first presentation in this Hon. House on the 2014 Budget, themed "A better Guyana for all Guyanese."
After listening to the Hon. Member on the opposite side of the House, I am not convinced that this budget is a people's budget. It might be better for some, a few maybe, but certainly not for all. The pressing questions that are frequently asked are: Where is the money to being spent, who benefits and what is the impact? A National Budget should be for the development of the whole nation, but we see, at the regional level, poor services, especially for residents of the hinterland.
I listened to Hon. Member Mr. Ronald Bulkan and I felt that he was referring to the conditions of residents of my home, Region No. 1. It is now clear to me then, that all the hinterland regions are being neglected and suffering at the hands of an uncaring Government. How can the Government face the residents of hinterland communities, where year after year living conditions deteriorate, while they read and hear about lavish lifestyles on the Coastal for a few?
My presentation will focus on the following areas: Infrastructure, Economical Development, Public Security, Education and Health Services, since I am proud a representative for the voices of the people in Region No. 1, Barima Waini.
On infrastructure, through the Ministries of Local Government and Regional Development, there are major defects in the quality of works delivered in the region. Hence, the people in the region continue to suffer. Let me draw this House’s attention to an issue that continues to affect the residents in Region No. 1. As it relates to usage of bridges in Santa Rosa Village, Moruca and San Jose Revetment, the residents find difficulties carrying in trades-off and other activities when they have to use these bridges. Permit me, Mr. Speaker, to refer especially to the bridge which continues to be highly contentious, based on the substandard works carried out by contractors.
Recently, we read and heard from the voices of concerned residents in Moruka in the Month of January, 2014, after several millions were spent on the revetment in Kumaka/Moruka. Numerous complaints have been made to correct the substandard works on the Kumaka/Moruka, both at the local and national levels, but to date no attention/action has been taken, so the residents continues to suffer.
On Hinterland Roads, there is a budgetary allocation of $1 billion towards the rehabilitation of critical arteries. However, there is no mention of works to be done in Region No. 1.The roads in Region No. 1 are commonly referred to as "dry weather roads". The Kwebanna Road, whenever it rains the roadways becomes slushy, almost impassable. The Matthews Ridge road is in a bad state, this is as a result of the poor work done by the contractor and poor supervision by the regional officials.
I now turn my attention to Housing and Water, which remains a major problem to the hinterland communities. Allow me to highlight the few communities that are currently accessing water from those systems Port Kaituma- six pump stations; Barabina Village - one functional pump station and two non-functional pump stations; White Water- one pump station; Waramuri- one pump station; and Kamwatta -one pump station.
Currently, that pump station at Kamwatta is in dire need of repairs. I am calling on the Minister of Finance to direct funds to solve these problems. The population in Region No. 1 exceeds 4,000; hence, the systems that I referred to earlier as inadequate for the region. Owing to the fact that the potable water is not accessible through pipelines, students at learning institutions are made to pump water from wells into tanks in order to go about their daily chores.
Energy and power; on the issue of energy and power, there is no provision in Budget 2014 to improvement of such services in Region No. 1. In 2013, works had commenced on the provision of electricity services at Barabina. However, there has been cessation of these works as a result of the condition of the road and the promised bridge that was to be built.
We are discussing Estimates of 2014. I am unaware of any consultation which was done with my people of Region No. 1, Barima Waini, as there are huge gaps in education, which the budget has failed to address. These are the issues that people hoped would have been addressed: reconstruction of the Morawhanna teachers living quarters; our nursery school children and teachers are struggling with inhumane lavatory conditions. Regarding education delivery, there is no provision towards those, as I mentioned earlier.
The Minister has omitted to mention the provision of transportation in Region No. 1. Let me inform this Hon. House that the majority of the residents in Region No. 1 get around using private transportation, which is very costly on the residents. However, mention has been made for the sum of $10,000 for transportation per child. While this sounds noble, what the Government should seek to do is to ensure that transportation is provided for our school aged children to and from school, since they pay $2,000, return by boat and $3,000 return by car per day. This suggests that the $10,000 will be insufficient, due to the high rate of transportation costs in the hinterland. I join with the Hon. Member Mrs. Dawn Hastings-Williams in inviting the honourble Minister of Education to visit Region No. 1 and its reverine areas
I now turn my attention to the provisions in this year's budget allocated for the elderly. This I deemed as a total insult to the elderly in Region No. 1 and Guyana at large. As I alluded to earlier, the high transportation cost in the region will ensure that the elderly will continue to remain in the same position they were some two years ago.
Another concern of the residents and people of Region No.1 is the demarcation of land and land titling for Amerindians. To this end, I do not recognise provision in Budget 2014 to have these issues addressed in hinterland communities; rather, there is a proposed provision to be expended on the construction of 100 hubs in 100 villages to facilitate the One Laptop Per Family (OPLF) initiatives. I am sure that the indigenous leaders would have expected that their land issues would have been addressed in 2014. However, indigenous leaders have accused the Government of snatching their traditional land through poor demarcation, saying some areas and communities were demarcated without their knowledge. It is only fair that this budget should have made provision to address land extension in indigenous communities. Moneys were spent to commence the project, but it is not yet competed. To date no land titles or extensions have been given to the certain communities.
Regarding economic development; no provision has been made for Region 1. It must be noted however that Region No. 1’s sustenance is heavily dependent on farming, fishing, timbering, mining and logging. Yet, some $1.5 billion is has been provided for other regions that do similar activities.
Public security - life remains unsafe for residents in Region No.1. Port Kaituma a thriving sub-region in Region No.1, but persons are vulnerable, yet nothing is being done to improve their security 2014.  In 2013, some $17.3 billion was expended, but Region No.1 did not benefit significantly from this allocation. This allocation budgeted for 2014 has increased by $2.2 billion dollars, yet there is no mention of Region No.1 benefitting from these allocations.
Health Delivery - this brings me to my final point on Health Services Delivery in the region. Residents continue to face poor Health Services. Take for instance, the Kumaka District Hospital, that institution is currently providing services to the entire sub-region of Moruka, without a functioning ambulance. Hence, our residents are left at the mercy of private transportation to get to medical institutions. In most cases, residents are forced to leave the region to seek further medical attention at Charity, since the sub-region does not have the specialised equipment readily available.
The health centre at Matthews Ridge is in dire need of repairs. At the moment there is need for a mortuary. What we have now, in 2014, is just an ice box. Another area of concern that residents face on a daily basis in the region is the supply of medical supplies, which is being done on an irregular basis. Yet in perusing the estimates, it seems that the provision for improvement of Health Services Delivery for residents in Region No.1. Rather, it seems to favour more purchasing of equipment.
In conclusion, I am calling on the Government of this country to have the budgetary allocations for Region 1 reviewed so that relief can come about for the residents of Region No.1.
Thank you. [Applause]