-The Community Development Council willing to develop meaningful partnerships

Samuel Sampson is the Chairman of the Community Development Council (CDC) and he is doing a lot of volunteer work to develop the community especially for the young people to become engaged in skills training and sports activities.

He told the Pepperpot Magazine that in Half Mile Village they have no sports facility nor ball field for the children and youths to play games but they would utilise the community ground at Silvertown.

Sampson added that that is one of their biggest challenge in the village but as CDC Chairman he wants to give the young people and children somewhere to go and spent time in games and sports activities.

He disclosed that a plot of land was identified for a community centre ground and the proposal was submitted to the Linden Town Council and they will construct a basketball court.

That will be a safe space for youths and children to go but he is still awaiting word from the authorities.

Sampson stated that Half Mile Village has more than 1,000 residents and most people are self-employed because of the scarcity of jobs and they have established small businesses that are trying to survive in that cash-strapped community.

He noted that the village is relatively large and most people want a little shop but what that community needs is more than just little shops. “We need job creation to earn because financially we are stagnant so, with all these little shops, they are vying to survive because the money is not circulating and the lives of the people need to be enhanced,’ he said.

In Half Mile the majority of the small businesses are food shops and they would open in the afternoons and maybe sell a few boxes of food and that alone cannot keep the business opened.

Sampson told the Pepperpot Magazine that the village is trying to survive but the standard of living needs to be elevated and people need grants to start varying businesses that will create employment.

“Right now is share hustle going on here with all these small shops and will not last because it is not very profitable to provide employment for others,” he said. Sampson reported that the CDC was formed last year November with 11 executive members and 60 members of the community.

He revealed that he has approached the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) to empower young people in the village and has on board a local tailor, the joiner, mechanic to take on some of the youths and teach them a skill. Sampson added that in Half Mile whatever resources the people have they are putting it to use but they need more to have long-term benefits.

“We walked around the community and went house to house to find out the immediate needs of the people due to the pandemic and we have heard them but we can’t go back because there is little we can offer them at this time and most things done are through self-help efforts,” he said.

The Village Leader reported that a lot of young people have completed their secondary education and are without jobs as such, they are doing all kinds of things in the village and that is a worrying trend. He added that they need an outlet, a place to go and things to do to occupy their time or else they will go astray and the community can ill afford that right now.

Sampson is one of the persons in the village, who has a food business, a night operation at Winifred Gaskin Highway where he sells fish, chips and chicken wings. He stated that since the CDC was formed they have embarked on a community enhancement project to clean drains in the village and 28 persons benefitted and earned a one-time payment of $20,000 each.

Sampson pointed out that they welcome more community-based projects where the locals can benefit and is willing to partner with non-governmental agencies to foster development within the village. He noted that there are some farmers in Half Mile Village but it is mostly a backyard venture because they do not have land space to go large scale.

Sampson added that the farmers need more land investment and additional assistance to widen their scope on farming in that community.