…Micobie , Campbelltown excluded from boundary following consultations

According to an order which was signed and published in the Official Gazette last Thursday , the Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) community of Mahdia has been designated a township.

According to a release from the Ministry of Communities , the elevation of Mahdia  to the status of a township is in accordance with the pronouncement made by President David Granger at the Opening of the 11th Parliament of upgrading the four hinterland regional administrative centres of Bartica, Mabaruma, Lethem, and Mahdia.

Mahdia will be the capital town of the Potaro/Siparuni region which the ministry said is part of government’s vision of establishing, in collaboration with regional administrations, a capital town in each of the ten (10) development regions that will serve as the engine of growth and development of same.

“Though earmarked to have been established earlier there were some challenges in the demarcation of constituency boundaries which resulted in the delay,” the Ministry stated.

Of importance , the ministry stated , is that in the Order, the boundaries of the new township excludes the titled Amerindian Villages of Campbelltown and Micobie as is the expressed desire of those Village Councils following a series of consultations.

The Ministry said it will continue to partner with all townships to ensure that residents regardless of where in Guyana they live have access to enhanced public services.

The foundation for the transformation of Mahdia has already begun to be laid with the upgrading of 80 % of the internal roads from laterite to concrete that will last for decades.

Moreover, plans have been advanced for the construction of a government compound that will house a number of government agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority, Guyana Lands and Survey Commission, Guyana Water Inc. and other agencies.

It was noted that the intent of the APNU+AFC administration is to to foster people’s empowerment through the strategic embrace of a decentralised form of governance.

The Ministry said it shares the excitement and is encouraged by the transformation that has taken place in the three (3) recently established townships as a result of local leaders seizing this opportunity of this empowerment exercise.

These new urban centres are important allies in assisting to close the gap that exists between the hinterland and coastland regions.

Bartica is the home of Guyana’s first boardwalk, Mabaruma has transformed the Kumaka Waterfront and Lethem is quickly becoming the business hub of the Rupununi.

According to the Ministry of Communities , literal transformation has taken place in the three new townships aided by “visionary democratic leadership” that will be renewed in Guyana’s first post-independence consecutive holding of local government elections (LGEs) which are due on November 12th, 2018.