THE regional democratic councillors from both the Government and Opposition sides have approved a proposed budget for 2019 at a special Regional Democratic Council (RDC) meeting held recently.

Some $46,270,000 for 2018 and $86,335,000 for 2019 in Capital Budget for Administration have been approved. For agriculture, $40, 000, 00 has been proposed and approved for 2018 and $177,275,000 for 2019; for public works, $68,230,000 in 2018 and $388,748,000 for 2019; for education, $193,800,000 for 2018 and $807,149,000 for 2019; and for health, $112,800,000 for 2018 and $330,015,000 for 2019 have all been approved.

Although there were a few amendments to the proposed budget, head of the Regional Democratic Council, Devanand Ramdatt said he was happy with the level of consultations done by the RDC in preparation of the budget.

“I feel that a budget should not only reflect what a council feel but should go through a process of consultations, and this is what I have been advocating for since I became regional chairman. The budget involved key stakeholders and am happy about that,” Ramdatt said.

He said at the various consultations, key stakeholders which included representatives from the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, Amerindian village councils, the Essequibo Chambers of Commerce and various programmes head of the Region Two Administration were able to give their views on key priority projects which they believed should be included in the budget.

Projects that were not in favour of the RDC were inspected and satisfactory amendments were made, Ramdatt said.

He noted that the region’s 2019 budget will create a transformative and positive impact on all the residents in Region Two, including the riverine areas.

Regional Executive Officer (REO) Rupert Hopkinson, who is the region’s accounting officer, said he was also pleased with the level of consultations from the various stakeholders and commended the efforts of the various programme heads.

Hopkinson said the budget focuses on the “Green State Development Strategies” and is positioned along a development path.

On the card for 2019 include several development projects such as constructions and rehabilitations of several schools, an agro-processing plant, construction of practical instructional centres at Cotton Field, renovation of the Suddie and Charity hospitals as well as the desilting of canals and drains.