An event that has been in the planning stages for weeks now, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Friday night officially declared open Essequibo Expo 2023.
And as various stakeholders committed to working with the government in achieving a massive eco-tourism hub along the Essequibo River, the Head of State assured residents that Region Two will greatly benefit from this strategic plan.
The two-day event (October 27 and 28) invites visitors and locals to engage in the many experiences available in the area and is a great opportunity for businesses and investors to meet.
Discussing the massive transformation slated for the region, Dr Ali said there are many investments by the public and private sectors in the region that will assist with the government’s goals.
“We are going to spend in excess of $200 million in an agriculture entrepreneurship project in which we will build a world-class hydroponic facility here and 100 of your young people will be the owners of this innovative facility we are going to build here in Essequibo,” the President said.
He explained that the government is ensuring that the socio-economic development in the region is balanced between improving the lives of residents and developing new innovations.
The Essequibo Coast and the Lower Essequibo are seeing the development of new tourism products and the expansion and improvement of existing ones.
A notable project being conducted is the ‘The Discover Essequibo Circuit Development Project’ that aims to promote the Essequibo Coast and Bartica as tourist destinations in Guyana.
Additionally, new hotels and tourist attractions have made the region a destination for all visiting the country. Recently a motorcross park was opened at Mainstay on the Essequibo Coast and it was already utilised for motor racing, kickstarting the plans to decentralize the sport from one base.
Soon a new stadium will be constructed at Anna Regina and President Ali said these are all investments to ensure that the Essequibo Coast is a major tourism hub.
“Now that we are going to have this stadium in Essequibo, I am in final discussions and negotiations with the West Indies Cricket Board for Guyana to host the Super 50 one day tournament here in Guyana next year and we want at least 40 per cent of those matches played in Essequibo,” the President said.
Expo Essequibo and subsequent developments will increase the Guyanese presence and physical infrastructure here and provide ample evidence of the exercise of Guyanese sovereignty over this area that is illegally and without any shred of any official
Venezuelan presence being threatened by creeping annexation by Venezuela. Georgetown must accelerate the pace of physical changes to the Essequibo Region and open up new industries that will attract a higher Guyanese presence as well as eco-tourists in search of jungle attractions including falls and wild life.
These developments will retard and nullify any illegal external Venezuelan incursions and military threat into clearly established and administered Guyanese territory because of visible acts of active exercise of sovereignty by the legitimate Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
If necessary and feasible some sittings of the National Assembly can be held in the Essequibo Region to emphasise Essequibo’s complete integration and inclusion within the territorial scope and jurisdiction of Guyana.
Some military exercises can be conducted by the GDF and an early warning aerial and satellite system must be installed in the entire Essequibo to warn of any illegal activities being contemplated by foreign forces designed and geared to infringe and indeed encroach upon this part of Guyana’s landed patrimony that generates a huge chunk of the off-shore Atlantic appurtenant maritime areas that belong to Guyana sometimes extending beyond 200 miles into the deep Atlantic Ocean as part of the geological/ geomorphological continental shelf of Guyana.
Guyana must up the ante in establishing its exclusive ownership and control of the Essequibo Region in co-operation with friendly states of the Region with whom its has established strong bilateral and functional co-operation programming. This is a political imperative with legal benefits to be derived and accrue to Georgetown.