WITH $100M in contracts granted, works will soon commence in 20 villages in the North Pakaraimas, Region Eight, which will significantly improve the lives of residents there.
Part of the works will see bush clearing, under bushing, opening narrow sections of the roadways and drains and undertaking minor repairs to roadways such as repairing soft spots, washouts, minor depressions and ruts with laterite.
The contracts do allow some degree of flexibility so that priority can be given to the specific needs of the community.
According to a release, an allocation has also been for the purchase of equipment such as chainsaws, brush cutters, axes etc., which will reside with the village council to allow for the building of capacity.
This was revealed by Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill, during a visit to the region on Wednesday. Also present were the Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Works, Vladim Persaud and the Hinterland Engineer, Jeffrey Walcott.
Minister Edghill pointed out that after having a sit down with the Regional Chairman of Region Eight, Headley Pio, it was decided that these contracts would be awarded to the Village Council of the various villages, so as to create jobs within the region.
The Regional Chairman complained that for many years, no works were done under the previous Government although representation was made. He expressed how grateful the people of Region Eight were for the contracts and thanked the ministers for taking the time out to visit them.
The minister said that he was aware of the hassle to get to Georgetown to receive payments, so the ministry is working out a way to get 50 per cent of the monies to the workers within one week so that works can commence by the end of the month.
He also announced that in this year’s budget, approximately $100M was allocated to improve the link between Regions Eight and Nine by doing the road from Karasabai to Monkey Mountain which will commence in a few weeks.
“We are improving connectivity. That will also mean that, in a more cost-effective manner, healthcare, education and other government services could be delivered,” he said.
