By Vanessa Braithwaite
OVER 100 desperate faces flocked Region 10 Chairman Renis Morian as he attempted to organise a clean-up campaign on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway early Sunday morning. The campaign slated to be completed in five days will see a thorough tidying of the 65-mile road that links Region 4 to Region 10.
The highway, which serves as a passage of commute for persons between the two towns and several villages and Amerindian settlements is located on both sides.
Not only does the campaign aim to clean up this long span of road so as to make it safer, brighter and to beautify the landscape, but also to create employment for those who are in dire need of financial assistance at the year comes to an end.
“We are looking to open opportunities for persons who are unemployed to have some income to assist them with Christmas preparations and so we have created several short-term employments such as this,” Morian said.
Those being in the employ of the campaign will be remunerated $40, 000 upon completion of the work.
Hundreds of Lindeners who need the opportunity displayed immense appreciation and interest by flocking the Regional Office daily to secure their names on the list.
The Regional Chairman was surrounded by additional persons whose names were not enlisted, but who were willing to be placed on standby for those who did not show up on time.
“This is just to show how bad people want jobs in this place as they would settle for any job” concluded an organiser amidst the confusion.
Persons were placed into groups and were assigned a group leader who would supervise their work. The beneficiaries of the campaign also include bus drivers who were hired to transport the workers to their assigned territory. Persons were asked to be equipped with the necessary tools as a requirement for the job and they did so. Many were armed with cutlasses, weeders, slashers and saws.
The Regional Chairman, along with other stakeholders, is currently in discussions with several investors on setting up industries and companies in Linden and Region 10.
It is hoped that these discussions will materialise and the 70 per cent employment rate in Linden will be decreased significantly. In the interim, the Regional Chairman is using his office to create small employment opportunities in the region. Apart from this cleanup campaign, the re-launch of the DNI clean-up programme has seen over 200 persons in its employ. Both men and women are benefiting from these initiatives.