Jagdeo promises return of press conferences after five-month hiatus

May 12, 2026 News

…says will focus on Govt. agenda

(Kaieteur News) – Almost five months after government held its last press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has promised to reconvene these crucial engagements.

On the sidelines of a public day engagement held Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Center, Lilliendaal, East Coast Demerara the former president explained that while there was public speculation about his health, government has been busy implementing its manifesto, following a successful campaign and elections in September last year.

Jagdeo promises return of press conferences after five-month hiatus

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo addressing the media at the sidelines of a Public Day on Monday.

“They’re speculating about me. They said I’m sick, I have cancer, all of that. They don’t understand. The elections are over. We campaigned aggressively. We won a big majority- seven seats majority in the parliament. My role changed from general secretary of the party and shifting from campaign to planning. We have to build 40,000 homes, to get a lot of issues addressed to keep the economy going and not to suffer from the Dutch disease requires a lot of planning and people don’t understand that sometimes,” Jagdeo explained.

He noted that while not in the public domain daily, government is still working on things “of a different nature”.

Meanwhile, he told journalists, “Now I felt that we have a lot of things in train and back in the public domain addressing the implementation of some of these issues…my press conference will resume but they will address mainly government issues, not so much the political issues.”

The last press conference by government was held on December 18, 2025 by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. Prior to his engagement with members of the media, President Irfaan Ali hosted a press conference on November 21, 2025. Since these events last year, reporters have not been able to deeply question government on the rollout of its development agenda. This issue has caused a blackout in the media fraternity with journalists being forced to utilise other avenues to hold government accountable. This would usually take the form of limited queries on the sidelines of events, often hurriedly addressed to facilitate “another engagement” or the casual “please keep questions on today’s events.”

A section of the packed Arthur Chung Conference Center.

During Monday’s public meeting, hundreds of Guyanese, young and old braved the heavy rainfall and winds to meet with the VP and other cabinet members at the ACCC.

Members of the public were given a number to wait and speak with a cabinet member of their choice, including the VP. Persons lined the stairway of the ACCC in some instances, waiting to have their concerns addressed.

Several ministers and their team were in attendance to document issues raised by those in attendance.

Doreen Persaud, an eldery woman of Enterprise, East Coast Demerara said she applied for land in 2022 and decided to meet with government for assistance in that regard.

Another young woman, who gave her name as Ms. Murray of Georgetown told this newspaper that she was pleased to see the turnout and despite the large number of persons she felt “secure and confident” that the weather was not hindering government from meeting with the public. “My main concern was my land and they took my information for me to come back next week so that’s a good start. They are speeding up the process,” she noted.

Two women with mobility issues, Andrea Hendricks, 42, of Region Three and Bibi Feroze, 23, of Montrose, East Coast Demerara both arrived at the location an hour ahead of its intended start time. They said concerns were discussed with VP Jagdeo and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

Hendricks said, “I came here to speak with the minister regarding housing for persons with disabilities and to see what the government has in store for us and not have us to go through a long-drawn-out process and I was able to directly interact with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and minister Priya Manickchand.”

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Arthur Chung Conference Center, Bharrat Jagdeo, press conferences

Latest News