PNCR readies farm project for Buxton
Stabroek News
March 16, 2003
The PNCR agricultural project in Buxton which should have been launched at the end of last month is now in its final stages of preparation.
PNCR leader Robert Corbin told Stabroek News that the delay was to allow the technical people to deal with a number of aspects of the project, including the marketing of the produce as well as security related issues.
The latter, he said, would involve meetings with the Guyana Defence Force and police personnel. The PNCR has cleared an area of land aback of Buxton for an integrated agricultural project in which the young people of the village have been involved. Corbin has mobilised the funding and a team of technical experts to set up the project and work with the young people.
Explaining the rationale behind the project, Corbin said it was being launched in an effort to lessen the economic dependency of the young people on persons who could afford to provide them with handouts, as well as to help them build their self-esteem.
The joint committee on depressed areas established during the Jagdeo/Hoyte dialogue process identified Bux-ton as one of the depressed communities on the East Coast Demerara for priority attention.
Since then sections of Buxton have been identified as a haven for criminals from various parts of the country who launch their raids on neighbouring villages, especially Annandale, and in the city.
Corbin suggested that as a means of easing the tension between Buxton and the surrounding villages that the community action groups could relate to each other and initiate joint approaches to tackle the issues which bedevil the people in those areas.
He said that it served no purpose when a crime was committed to assign political blame as this only conveyed the false impression to the criminals that their actions were serving some larger purpose.
Corbin stressed that the crime Guyana was experiencing was rooted in the economic conditions of the country and was not inherently racial or political, saying that the root causes had to be addressed.
