BARTICA, a town located in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni District (Region Seven), has been the beneficiary of millions of dollars over the past two years, as the government invests in the town’s development in areas of health, infrastructure, energy, communication and the environment.

Complementing the millions of dollars pumped into road improvement projects in the town, is the upgrading of the Transport and Harbours Department stelling at a cost of $240M. A $41M Golden Beach Boulevard project is also on stream, while millions more are being infused under the Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) to allow for sections of the town, including the Three-Mile Secondary School, to be powered using solar energy.

This week we asked the “Man in the Street” for his take on Bartica. While many of the residents expressed satisfaction with the town’s development, there was a common notion

that business has been on the decline.

Alma Fortune
“I am living here about 42 years now; Bartica is a nice and quiet place with friendly people. Sometimes we get our little ups and downs, business is sometimes slow, but things pick up every now and then. I like the development that is taking place, but I would like to see the town develop more, so that jobs would be created for the young people.

Naomi Frederick

“I would say that they are doing quite well. The improvement is evident – they are working on the roads and the drains, the place is cleaner than before because they have people cleaning a lot. Business is not too nice, but that is to be expected, sometimes it is good, sometimes it’s bad but that is to be expected.”

Norleen Jones
“As of now, everything is not completed as yet, but we are getting there, we are looking at the stelling, it’s almost finished; the roads, they are doing repairs, but we still have some pot- holes [that] need to be covered. Garbage, they are improving on that, but it still got some people trying to keep Bartica down. Business is on and off, but we are thankful for the small mercies.

Latchman Persaud

“It’s 26 years now I am living in Bartica. So far, is half and half but it’s good in a way. These days you seeing nuff changes, roads fixing, they fix up the beach-front, park build and so on, but for me, business down over 70 per cent. Time like now we don’t sit down, but now we deh sleeping. Competition all round and the market ain’t getting the support.

Shevon Lane
“More needs to be done because business is slow right now. It is hard for us in the market, because people come from town and selling greens and all sort of things right in front of the market, and the people inside the market suffering. When it comes to development, again, they need to do more, because the road in a terrible state, from One Mile going up, the road ridiculous. They need to do better.

Anita Bobb

“Business very, very slow, before, we had the Brazilians; they use to support the local businesses but since they gone, business slow up a whole lot. That’s one, the other thing is – we have a lot of problems with the roads, they patching them but before you know it is a bigger hole. Right now in front [of] my gap I have a terrible hole. I hope they put something in the budget to have the roads fixed properly, and something to boost business.”

Alice Nedd
“Bartica is a very nice place, cool and nice, peaceful. Business `lil’ slow but some days, it would pick up. But I think more needs to be done, especially when it come to the roads, the roads need fixing, but everything else alright.”

Rehana Rahim

“For me, more needs to be done to bring in more people into the region, we need more people. I think everybody should work together with the region and the Town Council to maintain prices. It [development] is going slowly but I think we are getting there.”