Mustapha reports development continues to move apace
DEVELOPMENT in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) continues to move apace and the residents continue to witness overall improvements which have been in the pipeline for many years, the Chairman, Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha said Saturday. Speaking during a Ministry of Housing ‘One Stop Shop’ at Albion Community Centre, he said:“This year, we will be spending $320 million on our Capital Works Programme and all sectors are marked for development.”
Mustapha said, in the area of drainage and irrigation (D&I), $110M would be spent on the rehabilitation of lands and canals, increasing the acreage available for cultivation.
“So far, for the last three years, we were able to take our total amount of land for rice cultivation to about 56,000 acres but we are hoping that, this year, we can touch the 65,000 acres mark,” he said.
In addition, Mustapha said more lands would be made available for the cultivation of cash crops and rice in an effort to ensure that the region continues to produce more.
As it relates to the construction and rehabilitation of roads, he said close to 170 were completed last year and contracts have already been signed for 72 more in urban areas.
“This will be done in all three towns, New Amsterdam, Rose Hall and Corriverton and works would be extended to the rural communities to encompass all 16 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils,” Mustapha informed.
He noted that Central Government has been playing its part in developing the region, with the installation of street lights, starting from New Amsterdam.
Still, there are bigger projects underway in the region, including plans to develop a deep water harbour, which would add to the rapid transformation in Berbice.
“We are witnessing bigger projects, such as the plans, by the oil company CGX, to construct a deep water harbour which will facilitate an increase in marine traffic and serve as a base for ships to off load their cargo,” he offered.
In that regard, Mustapha said investors from Brazil visited the region to look at prospects for generating increased investment for job creation.
He said the visitors were very optimistic that they can also use the harbour to export their produce rather than go to the Pacific Coast.
Alluding to plans for youth development, he announced that a massive campaign is currently underway to attract school dropouts to several new programmes.
“In Port Mourant for example, we have launched a computer class in which we have 40 students enrolled to learn Information Technology,” he disclosed, explaining that the programme is being implemented in collaboration with the University of Guyana, Tain Campus, to ensure that graduates receive recognised certificates to access jobs upon successful completion of the course.
Mustapha also unveiled a plan to build two new nursery schools and rehabilitate several major secondary schools, among them Skeldon Line Path and the New Amsterdam Multilateral.
He is confident that the growth witnessed over the last few years will, undoubtedly, be maintained through the implementation of the projected schemes.