Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce eager to work with Govt.

Aug 09, 2020 News

– intends to hold it accountable

By Malisa Playter-Harry

Mohammed Rafeek, President, Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce.

The Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce-led by its vibrant, President, Mohammed Rafeek, a businessman, has stated its intent to work closely with the newly installed government. The Chamber in commending the newly installed Irfaan Ali-administration is also prepared to monitor government’s progress having gotten off to a “flying start”.
Rafeek made this revelation at a recent press briefing at the Chamber’s building in Rose Hall Town.
He mentioned that the Chamber present at a recent with President Irfaan Ali, along with his senior team and the private sector on Monday last, where pressing matters were discussed.
“The discussion focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and many other things they are putting together and, as far as we are aware, a programme to inform the people will be released shortly,” said Rafeek.
He said too that “We in the private sector are also making proposals to put to government on working in relation to the pandemic… In a sense we know the pandemic is here to stay and so we have to find a way to live with it and also to get our economy growing. So a lot of these protocols are going to be forwarded to the government,” he added.
He revealed too, that one of the many things the government is aware of is the daunting state that many people are living in due to pandemic. This state of affairs was brought to the fore, he said, during several visits to communities to conduct hamper and mask distribution exercises.
“We had a first-hand look at how the people are living in this country and it opened a lot of eyes, and we are hoping that a lot of those images, many people in the government would have seen them. As a matter of fact, many of the people forming this government were in the fields also and we are hoping that those same images would motivate them to want to do good for the people of Berbice and Guyana. We are hoping that the government would come up with strategies for people who have lost their jobs and who cannot feed their families…that is something that we hope government will look at urgently,” he said.
Expressing gratitude that the election impasse has come to an end, Rafeek said “we are happy that this has been settled and we are willing to work with the government to uplift the people of Berbice.”
The Chamber served as an observer at the recent recount exercise and its members were very vocal about attempts at rigging the results. They also played a critical role during the pandemic bringing relief to hundreds of Berbicians.
Based on Monday’s discussion, Rafeek said that government is contemplating bringing further relief to persons who were impacted by the pandemic. In this regard, Rafeek said that it was revealed that government is likely to have talks with banking institutions to find a way to bring relief to those who have lost their jobs and have loans and mortgages to pay.
In addition, Rafeek stated that the Chamber will continue to represent Berbicians but at the same time hold the government accountable when necessary, even as a bright future for Guyana unfolds.