By Svetlana Marshall

OFFERING his gratitude to the corporate community for their critical role in initiating the D’urban Park development project, President David Granger said the time has come for the government to play a lead role in its execution.Speaking with Guyana Chronicle on his weekly televised Public Interest programme, which will be aired tonight, President Granger explained that the 2015 National Budget had not catered for the project, so external assistance was sought.

“We had to wait until the budget for 2016 was passed, so in the meantime we got some assistance from civil society and the corporate community to initiate works,” he explained.

PUBLIC FUNDS
The project has come to a stage in which the government can play an even bigger role, he said. “We feel that the Government of Guyana needs to inject public funds and not rely on the support of the corporate community which was given voluntarily,” President Granger noted.

NATIONAL PROJECT
“It is a national project and the government should have been more involved,” he added, while thanking the corporate community for stepping up to the challenge.

Since assuming office in May 2015 the corporate community has been pouring out support for the APNU+AFC government. “Guyana is really working as a nation in which civil society, the state, and other sectors are prepared to help…,” President Granger noted.

Earlier this week President Granger mandated Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson to assume full responsibility for the D’urban Park Development Project. This phase of the project will now be completed by the Public Infrastructure Ministry using some $150M.

The President had made the announcement following a meeting with Minister Patterson, Minister of State Joseph Harmon, Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force Brigadier Mark Phillips and Minister within the Ministry of Education Nicolette Henry, where he made it clear that the safety of the users of the Park must be the first priority.

“I want to emphasise the seriousness of this. Our intention is to make [D’urban Park] the most useful, if not the most beautiful in the Caribbean; so it is not something short-term, it is a symbol of nationhood…
We want it to be a space that is beautiful, safe, and open to the public. Safety must be assured now that it’s a national project, and Minister Patterson will now take responsibility for that,” President Granger had said.

Emphasising that D’urban Park is now a national project and must reflect national standards, President Granger said the Park reflects the national identity and takes precedence over municipal, partisan, commercial and private interests.