President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Saturday announced a series of new interventions for Karrau Village, Region Seven, including improvements to electricity, healthcare, roads, housing and water services.

The president made the announcement on Sunday as he began a two-day outreach in Region 7. He reminded that hundreds of millions of dollars have already been invested in Karrau through various government programmes, including the Low Carbon Development Strategy fund, presidential grants and capital projects.

He revealed that the Government will examine the feasibility of upgrading the village’s electricity system through the installation of a larger generator as the community continues to expand.

According to President Ali, the growing demand is linked to the development of a new secondary school which is expected to accommodate more than 200 students when fully occupied.

The President also addressed concerns regarding healthcare services and announced that a dental chair already delivered to the health centre will be operational by the end of the week.

“That dentist chair is already at the health center. We have now left the team in here to ensure that the dental chair is fully operational by the end of this week, and that the dentist is there full time,” he stated.

Road infrastructure was also identified as a priority area. The Government has committed to working with the village to procure essential equipment including a grader, roller and truck to support the construction and maintenance of approximately two kilometres of internal roads and up to ten kilometres of access roads into farming areas.

President Ali said the initiative will complement the excavator already provided to the community through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).

Additional commitments include repairs to one of the village’s water wells, a technical assessment of severe erosion affecting approximately 400 feet of land in Lower Karrau, the development of a play park and rehabilitation works on the main bridge near the new secondary school.

The President also announced that vulnerable households in Karrau will benefit from the Government’s home improvement programme, which is being expanded to riverine and hinterland communities.

The initiative will initially target elderly persons, persons living with disabilities, single mothers and large households.

President Ali expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the village over recent years, noting a significant reduction in complaints from residents.

“This is my third village visit over the last number of years. I can tell you the complaints have reduced by 95 per cent. It’s now all futuristic projects. It’s now what they are now requesting are projects to build off of what we’ve already established in building out prosperity in the village here,” he said.

He added that the Government will continue assessing the performance of technical personnel during the outreach and warned that shortcomings would result in consequences.

“As part of the cabinet outreach, we are able to connect directly with people, we’re able to listen to ideas, and one of the purposes of the outreach is to get ideas from the ground, because we want people to be involved in their own decision making for the development of the community and building out that long-term prosperity plan at the community level all across our country,” he said.