SOME $50M of $291M allocated for capital works in Region 10’s 2018 budget have been invested in infrastructural projects in riverine communities.
This is a significant change to the system over the years which allowed attention to be placed on Linden; the capital of Region 10.

Regional Executive Officer, Orrin Gordon, said that a considerable number of projects have been tendered and awarded in the riverine communities, and this is a part of the Regional Democratic Council’s (RDC) mission to see development in these areas as well, thus bringing the good life to all residents of Region 10.
“It’s the Council’s hard drive to see improvement and development in those locals, starting from De Veldt right down to Kwakwani,” Gordon stated.

A number of these projects have been signed on to already, the REO revealed. What is more noteworthy is that these projects are being awarded to the very residents of the community with the intent that local content is provided for labour and the funds are circulated within the communities.

The community of Hururu located in the Upper Berbice River benefited from three projects.
These include repairs being done to both the health centre and the primary school. Resident of Hururu, Elymewell Barkoye, said that the projects in total approximately cost $3.8M and while in some cases a skilled person has to be hired, the is being done by residents.

“Most of the people will be working in the community so the funds will stay in the community,” Barkoye said. He recommended that training be initiated for residents of these hinterland communities to learn vocational skills, such as masonry, carpentry and joinery, so that they will not only be labourers but will contribute to the skillset of the work force.

“It would be excellent for them to learn a skill because you still have to get someone with a skill to do the concrete project,” he said, adding that it is now the mission of the RDC to have residents do the job rather than employ outside contractors.
REO Gordon had said in a previous interview that focus will be given to all communities, including the far-flung ones.

“Those small projects like repair to health centres, schools and so on, we believe that you can do and they have decided that yes, they are going to have that done and we intend to work with them and empower them so that they too can benefit and get a piece of the regional pie,” he articulated.

As it relates to the entire 2018 works programme, the REO revealed that the administration is on target with spending and 80 projects have been executed while all of the projects have been tendered out.

“Administratively, they are on course, 80 projects, you could not have asked for much more,” he said. The two major projects to be awarded are the construction of the Bamia Primary School at $313M and the Bamia Nursery School at $63M.