$500M to be spent to improve D&I work
– including wharves, sluices and kokers

OF the $1B that the 2014 annual budget provided for implementing the ‘Clean-up Guyana’ programme, $500M will be spent in Georgetown to improve drainage and infrastructural work like the wharves, sluices and kokers.Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon provided the update yesterday when he met with reporters at Office of the President in Georgetown to conduct his usual post-Cabinet news conference.

As for the other half of the money, Luncheon said the coastal administrative regions were identified as the beneficiaries and the emphasis was also placed on drainage.

“For the second half of the money, the coastal administrative regions were identified as the beneficiaries and the emphasis here was on drainage which was easily recognised by Cabinet as a challenging sector and also solid waste disposal which Cabinet appreciated had generated widespread concern among the residents of those coastal regions,” said Luncheon.

Cabinet gave approval, in principle, for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development to assume responsibility for expending the sum of money and then, subsequently, Cabinet was given details of the planned use of the money, Luncheon informed.

SPECIALISED UNIT
According to Luncheon, Cabinet’s concerns were specifically about sustainability but the Minister of Local Government addressed those concerns by pointing out that there will be the creation and staffing of a specialised unit in the ministry that would deal exclusively with programming and implementing the activities in Georgetown and on the coastal regions.
“The minister also recognised that there were structures, existing entities on the ground, that had statutory responsibilities for undertaking some of the very same functions and activities that he would be spending this $1B on and he declared that some of this money would indeed flow to these bodies to improve their functioning, to outfit them, resource them better and definitely to enhance their capacity to discharge their statutory functions,” said Luncheon.

SOLID WASTE LEGISLATION
He said the minister has also recognised that the imminently planned enactment of solid waste legislation for the whole of Guyana that would now create a unified approach to solid waste had the potential of sustaining the solid waste component of this $1B.
“Overall, the minister left assured of Cabinet’s support but clearly recognising Cabinet’s concern to spend a billion dollars in six months and to provide credible results. It is a bit of a challenge and Cabinet and the public…will all be interested when the six months would have elapsed, what kind of report the minister would be providing.”

(By Telesha Ramnarine)