THE Ministry of Social Cohesion last week disbursed a total of $19M to five communities in Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) for enhancement of their sports grounds.

Technical Officer within the Ministry, Ms. Natasha Singh-Lewis, handed over a warrant for the funds to the administration of Region 5, who pledged to complete the projects before year- end.

The beneficiaries are the residents of Ithaca and Blairmont Villages on the West Bank of Berbice, and Lovely Lass, Seafield and Paradise Villages on the West Coast.

A sum of $2M was provided for the fencing of the basketball court at Ithaca Village, and the construction of a bleacher near the court.

Another $2M was allocated for repairs and maintenance works to the sports club pavilion at Blairmont and infilling and landfilling of the playground.

At Lovely Lass, $4M was allotted to landfill the sports club ground, to repair the fence and the gate and construct a bleacher.
The sum of $8M dollars was provided for the construction of a concrete fence at Paradise, while $3M will be used to landfill the playground at Seafield Ground and construct two bleachers.

A warrant for the monies was handed over to Regional Executive Officer, Ovid Morrison, during a sensitisation forum which the Ministry of Social Cohesion held last Wednesday at the Blairmont Primary School.

The exercise which targeted residents of the villages within the Blairmont/Gelderland Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and the Rosignol/Zeelust NDC, sought to apprise the residents on the Ministry’s role in collaborating with communities in the execution of its five-year strategic plan for social cohesion in Guyana.

Singh-Lewis told the large gathering that the allocation of the sums for the enhancement of the various sports ground, is in keeping with a promise made to the respective communities earlier this year by Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr George Norton who has responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sports.

According to Singh-Lewis, the allocations are the final disbursements for ground enhancements in the Region for this year, but she has assured the gathering that other communities with sports grounds that need upgrading, could apply for funding as a project for 2018. She also advised that assistance could be sought from the Engineering Department of the Regional Administration in drafting the requests for such funding.
The sensitisation programme at Blairmont was the second to be conducted by the Ministry within Region Five. The first was held in August at Moraikobai, in the upper reaches of the Mahaicony River.
Meanwhile, two more forums are to be held at other locations within the Region before the end of this year, Singh-Lewis disclosed.