–to erect its own shopping mall, other key facilities soon

THE Barima-Waini Sub-Region of Moruca is to soon have its own shopping mall, thanks to the cumulation of a generous grant of G$1M to each of its 11 communities, courtesy of President David Granger.

According to Ms Anette Danese, Area Councillor of the communities of Aqueiro and Huradia, located in Santa Rosa, because of the need for such a facility at Moruca, area councillors unanimously agreed, with the Toshao’s blessing, to use the money for the benefit of the entire sub-region.

“We are trying to bulk the million-dollar per an area, so we will be receiving $11M,” Danese said.
“And we want to put a mall at the market in front there at our central; we want to do a mall with this 2017 presidential grant,” she added.

Moruca is divided into 11 titled communities, among them Santa Rosa, Assakata, Chinese Landing, Waramuri, Santa Cruz and Kariako. Santa Rosa, the largest and more populated of all the communities, has an estimated population of 5000 residents and is governed by a Village Council led by a Toshao.

SPORTS CLUB SNACKETTE
Danese said, too, that a decision was also taken to pool the 2016 Jubilee Grant of $1M given each of the communities, and give it to the Moruca sports club to build a snackette.

The snackette, she said, when completed, will bring in some well-earned income for the sports club, which is the pride and joy of Moruca, since all of the communities’ football and cricket matches, as well as other sporting events are held there.

“We have a very good sports club in the area,” Danese said, “so we give the money to them so that they could build a snackette at the ball field.”

Another $5M grant that was given to the community through the Community Development Plans (CDP) was used to buy the community a bus, which the Councillor said was a necessity for the residents.
“We buy a bus with it; it helps out the schoolchildren, pensioners, everybody,” Danese said, adding:
“You see when the bus down, is like everybody does be affected; everybody does be at a loss.”

She said that since the driver for the bus also lives in the Aqueiro area, there is no need for the bus to leave the community to go elsewhere, as is the case in some of the other areas.

COMMUNITY CENTRE
The Council is also in the process of finalising a project proposal for a community centre, which is badly needed in the area.
“When we have our meetings and so,” Danese said, “we do it in open spaces; we don’t have a building we can go and sit in, or for activities to be held.”

That project, she said, will be funded by the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs with a grant of $1.5M.

Danese said she only learnt about the availability of the grant lately, while attending the National Toshaos Council in Georgetown, and was encouraged to complete the proposal so that the funds can be released at the earliest opportunity.
“We are really grateful for these grants; they are helping our communities a lot,” she said.

She noted, however, that the community of Aqueiro is in dire need of computers for its Internet hub, which was constructed under the previous administration.

Without computers and Internet access, she said, the building is of no use to the community; the only means persons have of accessing the Internet is via their cellular phones, which is not very cost-effective for research purposes.

As such, residents are asking for the hub to be upgraded, and computers to be provided. “This will really assist students, especially the Internet,” Danese said, adding:
“The only way we access Internet is by our phones and at the Santa Rosa Secondary School. In this area alone, we have close to 500 residents.”