GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has rejected claims that the government’s aggressive outreaches are nothing more than election gimmicks, arguing that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration has maintained a consistent presence in communities nationwide.
Jagdeo, who also serves as the PPP’s general secretary, reminded us that since 2020, even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, government officials, including President Irfaan Ali, have actively reached out to citizens.
Recently, the president conducted a two-day outreach in Berbice County.
Speaking on that particular engagement, Jagdeo noted that these outreaches have been more community-based, shifting away from large-scale infrastructural complaints to land disputes, drainage issues, and individualized issues.
“This isn’t dysfunction,” he said in response to critics during a news conference. “It is a sign of a government that is prepared to listen to the people…because we care. Even when we cannot solve the problems, we listen.”
“The key thing is that we’re the only ones who’ve been doing this consistently…in 2020…in the middle of COVID, we were on the ground… 2021, we were on the ground, 2022, we were on the ground, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Which political party has done this or any individual in those years?” he added.
Jagdeo also criticized media narratives that portray public listening tours as signs of inefficiency, arguing that this perspective is elitist and disconnected from the realities of development.
“We don’t mind spending our time [on the ground] rather than sitting down and sipping coffee in Georgetown and pontificating about development. That’s not how development works,” the vice president said.
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