– with $4M Communities Ministry grant

WITH massive drainage and irrigation works being carried out in Alexander Village, Georgetown Mayor, Ubraj Narine, on Tuesday, paid a visit to the area, meeting and interacting with residents.

A contract valued $4M was recently signed between the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and contractor Kwesi Hamilton for the works to be done.

Minister Ronald Bulkan had, months ago, paid a visit to Alexander Village and had promised residents that he would arrange through the City Council to have some work done there.
“He (Bulkan) stood to his word. I’m here to let you know that we care for Alexander Village,” Narine said on site Tuesday, as he reflected on how the area has been neglected for years.

Apart from the desilting and other works ongoing, Narine told reporters that more money will be allocated to this constituency. In fact, work is also supposed to start in other constituencies soon.

Noting that the work in Alexander Village is not being done to gain political mileage, Narine explained that the work was due for several months now. “These works were scheduled to start for a very long time. Mr. Dookie from the private sector had called me about this area three months ago and I said to him I had money to do work in Alexander Village, but that it will take some time.”

In addition, the mayor said whenever money is forwarded to the municipality from the ministry; he takes his time to go through the process before any contract is signed. “I go through the contracts fine, fine and that takes time. A lot of work has to be done at the council. I have to see the right mechanism is in place so I can be able to give an account for the money the ministry sends over.”

Meanwhile, former captain of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Daniel Seeram, now a candidate for the coalition, said Tuesday’s initiative was a result of continuous work. The council dug the drains three months ago, he said, and they are trying to keep digging them for the upcoming rainy season.

Seeram said now is an especially ideal time for the work in view of the coming rains and that the adjoining alleys in the village will also be done so as to have a free flow of water. “So this will alleviate the flooding in this area. After the last digging of the drains, we saw a significant decrease in flooding in the area,” he said.

Seeram noted that other nearby communities also stand ready to benefit from the work. “Everything from South Georgetown coming straight down is coming through all of these drainage systems here. So this is the point where we have the most clogging, most of the debris. If we keep cleaning here, everything will flow out naturally.”