Recently-elected Region 10 Chairman Renis Morian has outlined a plan for the region that will include food security.
In his wide-ranging first address, after having been elected following the inauguration of 18 new councillors on June 30, Morian identified some needs and deficits in several sectors. He asserted that under his tenure there will be integrated development where programmes will be fashioned for each sector, weaknesses addressed and efforts made to fill vacancies first from among the skill sets of the region’s population.
Morian said he will not preside over eight-hour meetings and instead expects committees to make recommendations to the council. “Our job is in the fields where the people are. Then we have to look for the necessary vehicles to have our councillors move,” he said.
Food security
After declaring that he was passionate about agriculture, Morian pointed out that Region Ten does not enjoy food security as 85% of the food consumed within is sourced from outside the region. The first step to remedying this, he asserted, was to schedule a farmers’ forum with the region’s farmers, political leaders and administrators to come up with a vision and craft a programme for agriculture. To complement this, the agriculture office at Christianburg must be fully furnished and equipped for work.
“We just don’t need agricultural officers – and here is where our agriculture committee along with ourselves, has to work with the minister of agriculture to have a programme with benchmarks,” he said. There are young people in Region Ten with degrees in agriculture who are unemployed,” he said, adding that it “is tantamount to serious negative aggression against Region Ten.”
Education
Regarding education, the regional chairman said, “There is $400M lying in an account for three years for teachers’ loans that was never accessed. The region will negotiate with government to ensure that its teachers can access the funds, he said. Another issue that the education committee will have to engage the Region Ten Department of Education and Education Ministry on is to ensure that there is an adequate number of school welfare officers assigned to the region. Morian also said there is need for improvements to schools as several of them are not conducive to learning. He also extended congratulations to the teachers in the region whose charges performed creditably in the recent Grade Six Assessment.
Health
Plans are also in train to negotiate for an increase in the $13,000 annual payment that nurses receive for uniforms and shoes. The region will also advocate for more health visits to outlying areas, he said.
Youth
The regional chairman also revealed ambitious plans to accommodate youth and meet the needs of those with anti-social tendencies. Morian said a youth development team will be established to identify challenges young people face and treat them at the regional level. The team will be headed by MP Jermaine Figueira.
Regarding employment, he observed that there are young people in Linden with CXC passes and qualifications from the Linden Technical Institute and gave assurances that they will be given an opportunity to obtain contracts and work in the region. To further recognise their achievements, both tertiary and otherwise, plans are in train to arrange a Regional Youth Awards Ceremony by November. “We want to show the young people that we care for them,” Morian said. “We will not just give them a trophy. We need to go further … get a scholarship for them. I will ask the team that we also carefully look at youth employment, sports, arts, culture.”
The RDC also intends to facilitate a close working relationship between the Welfare Department and police to provide the best possible solutions for errant youth. Morian also expressed a desire for a holding facility for juveniles to be established that would provide an alternative for youth that have run afoul of the law and have been remanded to prison.
Women
The region’s plan also makes provision for women. Morian expressed a desire for a workforce with equality as women had been excluded from certain jobs based on their gender. The RDC will collaborate with stakeholders including MP Valerie Sharpe-Patterson, whose women’s group has already started its programme, to ensure that women are fully involved and represented in all that the region has to offer.
“We want to see a half-way house for battered women in Region Ten,” Morian said, adding that the RDC will partner with women’s groups in the region to better determine how it can support and enhance the lives of women who have survived abuse.
The regional chairman said he has made humility a watchword for his life and intends to lead the RDC by example. He encouraged the councillors to adopt the virtues of humility and respect during the conduct of their duties, adding that over the ten years he served in the RDC he disagreed with the cantankerous manner into which it sometimes deteriorated. The regional chairman also said he would be employing a strict professional dress code for men and women at RDC meetings, adding that decorum in dress and speech would be encouraged to set a good example for the younger generation.
Morian replaces Sharma Solomon who was not returned to the council by the APNU+AFC coalition.
