– to fully utilising subventions

THE ten Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in Region Five (Mahaica- Berbice) were last week well on their way to completing developmental projects made possible with their government subventions.

Deputy Regional Executive Officer, Mr. Sherwyn Wellington said earlier this week that the overall performance of the NDCs in the Region in this regard last week averaged around 90% completion of their $4M across- the-board allocations for 2018.

Wellington said that among those NDCS in the 90% range of completion of their subvention projects were Blairmont-Gelderland, Rosignol-Zee Lust, Bath-Woodley Park, Profit-Rising Sun, Tempie-Seafield, Mahaicony-Abary, Woodlands-Farm and Hamlet-Chance.
Following closely on their heels, he said, were Woodlands-Bel Air and Union-Naarstigheid NDCs.

Projects being tackled under the Blairmont-Gelderland subvention, which are at various stages of completion include the construction of two streets, a storeroom at the NDC Office, and a self-acting koker for residential drainage.

This NDC has reported that one street, namely Pansy Street, is 100% complete, while the other one, Eddy Singh Street, is 90% complete.

Wellington disclosed that Rosignol-Zeelust is executing the purchase of road materials to upgrade the quality of three streets in the Council area at a total cost of $4M.
Woodlands-Farm has been using its subvention to construct a street at Number 7 Village, West Coast Berbice, and that project was at last week 85% complete. Bath-Woodley Park had identified the purchase and spreading of road-building materials to remove potholes, which project was last week 90% complete.

This NDC had also targeted the purchase and installation of High Density Polyethlene pipes (HDPE) to improve residential drainage at a cost of $1M, and construction of a walkway for residents of the village at a cost of $500,000 for completion before the end of the year.
The Union-Naarstigheid NDC subvention has seen the ongoing construction of two foot-bridges, one at Onverwagt and the other at Lovely Lass; the purchase of crusher run and tar for repairs to some streets within the NDC; and the purchase of greenheart materials for maintenance works.

The Tempie-Seafield NDC is set to benefit from a new two-storey building for their Office operations, and the Profit-Rising Sun NDC from $3.2M worth of road-building materials, and construction of a revetment at a cost of $800,000, 90% of which has been completed.
The Mahaicony-Abary NDC projects comprise purchase of road-building materials; purchase and installation of drainage tubes; construction of earthen dams; and construction of a footpath, all of which are at a stage of 90% completion.

Woodlands-Farm NDC projects comprising of construction of three streets at a total cost of $4M are 90% complete, as is that of the Hamlet-Chance NDC for the purchasing of road-building materials for James Avenue, Wellington disclosed.

Wellington said he is confident that the ten NDCs in the Region will complete their programmes over the next three weeks, and that the residents would benefit from the improved quality of their surroundings by virtue of the completion of these community-based projects.