PERMANENT Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr. Collin Croal has indicated that a team will be arriving in Guyana to conduct training and set guidelines for the Community Road Improvements Project (CRIP) and its advancement. Speaking at a recent media briefing at the ministry’s boardroom in Kingston, Georgetown, Croal stated that infrastructure development under the CRIP programme is done under the Ministry of Housing and Water, but the institutional development strengthening is the responsibility of the Local Government Ministry.
Croal said that commencing on February 26 and  going until  March 5, a team will be in Guyana to conduct training, focusing on   “training of trainers”  and  establishing  guidelines.
Among the areas to be looked at will be financial management, performance and appraisals,  he said.
In  the ‘training of trainers’ programme, persons will be  expected to continue the training of local government staff within the ministry and the administrative regions, including overseers and assistants with  Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs), seeing that they will be the trainers for continued development on the ground, Croal said.
Additionally, Croal stressed on the importance of road maintenance as a number of roads are a part of CRIP programme.     
The CRIP is a multimillion dollar road project being implemented by the Government of Guyana and it is aimed at improving access to housing, education, health and other social infrastructure through the improvement and upgrading of roads in existing housing schemes.
This newspaper had reported earlier  that  CRIP will be implemented in 12 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in Regions 3 (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), 4 (Demerara/Mahaica), 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) and 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) and caters for the construction of 204 roads in specified areas.