THE spirit of local democracy has permeated Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice). Several communities are getting involved in communal projects, to not only beautify their communities, but to earn money to improve their livelihoods.

Currently, there are 15 registered Community Development Councils (CDC) in Region 10 and an additional 30 that are actively trying to get registered.

Leading them are vibrant, ambitious and proactive executive members, who are creating waves and setting the stage for others to follow.

One of these is the One Mile Extension CDC that is currently involved in a seedling project. Executive Members of the CDC, Cleveland Tappin, related on Saturday, that the seedling project is getting bigger and better.

Tappin works along with his brother Oliver Tappin and resident Wanda Richmond to produce the seedlings for a nursery; the seedlings are then sold and distributed to residents to start up their own gardens.

The trio produces cash crops, permanent crops, citrus fruits and even medicinal seedlings. The Tappin brothers, along with Richmond, dedicate their time and energy to encouraging persons to turn to the soil and then do follow-up visits; the visits are to ensure that residents are seeing results and to give technical guidance when needed.

The Rockstone CDC has also embarked on a communal agro-processing initiative that is enabling farmers, women processors, transportation providers, packagers, amongst others, to earn.

The Rockstone Cassava Processing Project is funded by the Amerindian Development Fund and has made strides since its commencement. Toshao Flagron Carter noted that up to 12 women are in rotation at the processing plant. There, they process the cassava into sauce, cassava bread, farine and casareep, among other things. The products are marketed in the community and in Linden.

“Right now our major markets are the RDC and Chanzars in Linden. We must thank the REO, Orrin Gordon, for really supporting this project,” Carter related.

MAKING WAVES

The Bamia CDC, which is a relatively new group, is already making waves, and through a cooperative spirit, pushing ahead with a tourism project, which will see the community benefitting tremendously.

Bamia, a small community on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, is home to Linden’s most sought-after creek, the Bamia Creek, which is a weekend destination for scores of persons who visit for relaxation.

While the area has been transformed drastically with government funding, Orletha related that residents are coming together to further transform the area, from just a creek, to a resort.

Residents are involved in self-help efforts to beautify the area by planting flowers, debushing, clearing drains, etc. They have completed a proposal for government funding to take the project to a next step.

“We want to build a little toll station so that persons coming can pay a little money for parking, and so we are extending the park, trying to backfill the other areas for this. We also want to set up a games area, so that the youths would not only come and lime and drink, but to be meaningfully occupied with volleyball, basketball and other games. We also want to build benabs and other facilities to transform the area into a resort sort of thing,” Orletha said.

In this way, the community will be able to bring in money, so that residents can not only earn, but other development projects can be funded.

CDCs involved in extensive developmental and beautification projects, know that neither the central, regional or municipal government has the financial capacity to assist all communities, in this regard.

‘HAND WASH HAND’

It calls for a ‘hand wash hand, mek hand come clean’, approach and residents too have to play their part in ensuring that their communities are transformed, rather than being fully dependent on the authorities.

The Andyville CDC is setting a fine example and is moving ahead with self- help projects, where through voluntary donations and fundraising activities, they receive much-needed financial support.

According to CDC Chairman Michael Greene, the community is constructing another signboard to enhance the community’s entrance. The CDC is also transforming the community’s creek (One Koker), into a tourism destination on the Wismar shore, which will also be a means of generating funds.

“We already start building a benab around the creek, plus we have other attractions there, because we want to make it a place where persons can come and relax and have fun,” Greene said.

Through other fund-raising ventures, proceeds from those events will be used to commence the construction of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) hub and play centre for children, among other things.

The CDCs of communities located in South Mackenzie: Richmond Hill, Fair’s Rust, Watooka and Noitgedacht, among others, have seen significant improvement in their aesthetics, through self-help efforts spearheaded by Deputy Mayor, Wainwright Bethune. Bethune is also the chairman of the Community Development Council (CDC) and the constituency representative.

The CDC is also collaborating with the Community Policing Group (CPG) to provide the needed help in beautifying these communities. The establishment of ‘green’ spaces in the communities, which include a modern signboard surrounded by flowers and plants, is atop the agenda.

This has already been completed in Fair’s Rust and Richmond Hill. Another key project from which South Mackenzie communities are benefitting is land reclamation, which is in keeping with the country’s ‘green’ agenda. For many years, bauxite mining has left many of the communities with swampy and slushy areas. Bethune noted that the overburden from bauxite mining is used to reclaim these lands, thus extending the communities’ boundaries. Residents can use these reclaimed lands for farming and other empowering activities.

Deputy Mayor Bethune related that all hands were on deck to source and backfill the overburden in these many swampy areas. Community Development Officer for Region 10, Byron Kendell, applauded the efforts being made by the various CDCs and are encouraging those that are yet to be registered to organise themselves, so that they too can submit proposals to benefit from grants that are accessible from the various ministries, such as the Social Protection Ministry.