Public meeting |23 June 2023
President urges for more understanding among Plaisance residents
The head of state has urged the residents of Plaisance to be more responsible, understanding and helpful towards each other, thus rendering all their lives easier.
President Wavel Ramkalawan was addressing the residents at the district’s consultative meeting at the administration office, where a large crowd had gathered to voice their concerns and make proposals over issues impacting their daily lives.
At the end of the four-hour meeting President Ramkalawan thanked the participants, stating it was an opportunity for them to air a lot of issues, learn from them and resolve some to ensure the district move forward in a positive way.
“During the meeting there have been instances where we have discovered that as citizens we need to be more responsible,” he stated.
“We need to know how to live well together,” said President Ramkalawan, urging those living in tight spots like Rochon, Belvedere and Frichot Estate, where they need each other’s assistance, to take it upon themselves to be more understanding and show concern towards their neighbours.
“Let us make our neighbour’s lives better; if we can have that mindset then we can move forward not only as a district but as a country,” he stated.
Plaisance was the district before last and similar to other districts, the points raised were personal ones such as housing, health and education as well as community-related concerns including roads, bus service, bin sites among others.
One student voiced his concern over the state of the Plaisance secondary school, claiming the building was cracked, posing a danger for students and staff and was also missing windows and doors living them open to the elements.
The president informed the meeting that the Ministry of Education had plans to renovate the school soon although he could not confirm the exact date for the beginning of the project.
An entrepreneur queried about the construction of a specialised RND lab to test products locally. Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry, Devika Vidot, explained that such a lab would require a lot of financing, which the country did not have at present.
“We have been sourcing international donors and having discussion with several organisations but what we have established so far is the business technology incubator, which is a framework where we can admit startups and provide support to them in terms of collaborations. We are still preparing everything and we will be in touch once everything is ready,” stated Minister Vidot.
There was also a call to make the constitution accessible to all, by making it affordable. This was welcomed by the head of state who also informed the meeting that there was already a creole version of the document to make it more accessible to the population.
There were several concerns over the lack of communication with some public service officers, to which the head of state once again appealed to government entities and other agencies to improve their services towards the public including acknowledging letters and to respond in a timely manner.
The last consultative meeting is taking place today for residents of St Louis. It will be held at the ex-School Meals Centre in Victoria starting at 5pm.