THE small community of Bamia, located on the Linden Soesdyke Highway, is now better empowered and household heads are now in a better position to provide for their families, following the approval for a logging concession by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).
To facilitate this process, earlier in the year, residents established the Bamia-Amelia’s Ward Forestry and Farming Cooperative Society. It presently has about 30 members. An executive body was also established to manage the affairs of the co-op. The concession is located on the Eunamco Road, Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice, Region 10. Residents are elated that their calls for job opportunities have been answered, since economic activities were stagnant.

Resident, Eustace Williams, said that the concession is a real boost to Bamia, since many of the residents were unemployed. “The concession is really good, we never had a logging association, like in Bamia, they don’t have any employment in Bamia that will create employment for the people,” he explained. “We never had a concession or an association before, despite they are loggers there,” Williams emphasised.

Similar sentiments were expressed by the Chairman of the co-op, Michael Hercules, who said he sees tremendous potential and benefit from the concession, since a significant number of persons will benefit from direct employment. “Many persons would be able to obtain a living. When persons heard about it, it sent shock waves to the residents of Bamia and this is testimony to the commitment of the government, because prior to 2015, this would have been a dream, that would have never materialised,” Hercules posited.
He said he is encouraged that these positive initiatives are occurring in less than five years and therefore he reasoned, what would happen in two or three terms.

Constituency Representative of Bamia/Amelia’s Ward, Lawrence Simon, said that this was a call made by the residents while he campaigned for Local Government Elections, and it was his duty to ensure tangible economic projects come to the community. He formed a group called ‘Think Green’ and engaged the necessary stakeholders on bringing such a project to fruition.

There were challenges in ensuring all the necessary requirements were met and all the necessary documentation was retrieved, but the group never gave up. “Empowerment is key to development and we are getting there. Our team basically, Think Green, along with Linden Mayor and Town Council, along with all other stakeholders, will be working to develop our communities and Linden at large, the town we love,” he said.
During this period, residents would have also initiated agricultural and tourism projects within their communities, all in an effort to boost its economy.