Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon on Friday reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to decentralising and improving access to Government services for every Guyanese as he turned the sod for the construction of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission’s (GLSC) new office in New Amsterdam, East Berbice-Corentyne, Region Six.
At a simple ceremony held at the location secured for the $30.8 million construction project, Minister Harmon said that the Government has a responsibility to ensure that all the services of the state are available to all the people of Guyana, regardless of geographic location, political affiliation or any other factor.
“The building here of the GLSC is a further elaboration of that commitment of which we have to the people and I want to commend Commission for this. I want to commend the Regional Chairman because I know that his heart is in the development of the region.
“Irrespective of which party is in power our commitment is to the service of the people of Guyana and so this is what we are doing. Irrespective of where we are, where service has to be provided then the Government has to provide to the people wherever they live.”
Minister Harmon also addressed the staff of the Commission present, noting that the new building should not be about the office space for the staff and convenience but more importantly, it should represent the quality of service, which the people of Guyana have a right to expect from the public service.
Head of the GLSC, Mr. Trevor Benn, in his remarks, noted that the Commission was previously housed at the Regional Democratic Council’s (RDC) office and while it has served its purpose at that location, the Commission has outgrown the space as a result of the volume of work, which has to be addressed.
“As you would appreciate, with the coming of oil, Region Six has become a very important region to many of the prospective participants of the oil industry and they’re coming to us and they’re looking for land in this area. In addition to that, we have observed that a lot more of our people in the region are returning to the land for agriculture purposes, rice being one of the main areas. So, we want to be able to be in a position to offer the support and help that people need when they come to the region looking for land. I hope that with this new building, the residents can be better served and that we are able to fulfill the expectations of our clients from Region Six,” he said.
With the construction of the new building in New Amsterdam, the Commission expects that the Board of Directors will now be able to take its meetings to the various locations to interact more with the residents of the areas. (Extracted and modified from Ministry of the Presidency)
