–to cover construction of craft building for Amerindian Hostel

–upgrades to farm-to-market roads, schools & healthcare services

IN the coming months, the people of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) are expected to benefit from a number of developmental works which are estimated to cost some $143,355,247, spanning across several sectors such as public works, agriculture, health and education.

These projects are all being facilitated under a $4.8 billion allocation that the region received under the government’s landmark $552.9 billion budget for 2022.

A disaggregation of the region’s current expenditures showed $261 million being allocated for regional administration and finance, whilst $311 million was for agricultural development; $332 million for public works; $2.6 billion for the improvement of education delivery and $1.3 billion to bolster healthcare services.

Earmarked for general rehabilitation and upgrades under capital road projects, are several West Coast Berbice roads, including the main entrance and first cross street at Number 10 Village and Waterloo Street, Bath Settlement.

Capital road works under drainage and irrigation are also slated for villages in Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, as well as West Coast Berbice. More specifically the works entail the construction of sidelines for villages such as Naarstigheid, Number Nine Village, Weldaad, and Cotton Tree in Berbice, as well as Planter’s Hall in Mahaicony.

As for the region’s recurrent road projects, a number of critical farm-to-market roads are slated for further upgrades. These include the corridors at Champagne, and Esau and Jacob in Mahaicony along with the Zee Zight Road at West Coast Berbice.

Combined, these roads serve hundreds of cash crop and rice farmers, whose income rely heavily, or in some cases solely on the transport of their produce from their farms to the market or mill.

CRAFT BUILDING FOR AMERINDIAN HOSTEL
Under capital “admin” works, the region has earmarked $6.2 million for the construction of a crafts production building at Park Village, Mahaicony, to further supplement programmes being offered at the Amerindian Hostel.
According to a tender advertisement issued earlier in the week, the crafts building will be housed in the compound of the hostel, so as to ensure convenient access by those who utilise the hostel.

The facility accommodates mainly Amerindians residing in villages such as Moraikabai that are located further up the Mahaicony River. Because of high costs of transportation, many persons and their families would stay at the hostel while they work or attend schools along the coastland.

As it relates to works under the education sector, the Region Five administration has funds set aside to do several things, beginning with the major rehabilitation of the Bush Lot Secondary School at West Coast Berbice and Rosignol Primary School located along the West of Bank Berbice.

The region has also catered for the much-needed extension of the Waterloo Nursery School, also located along West Coast Berbice. Urgent repairs are also slated for the access bridge to the Number 29 Primary School, as well as repairs to the perimeter fence at both the Cotton Tree and Shieldstown Nursery Schools.

In an effort to improve the region’s delivery of healthcare service, investments are also being directed towards the installation of an entrance culvert at the Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice Health Centre, as well as notable rehabilitation works on the Fort Wellington Regional Hospital.

Although not outlined in the recent tender invitation, it should be noted that Region Five is also expected to benefit from the construction of a regional storage bond, which, authorities have said, would be erected at Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice.

Last month, during his defence of the allocations for Region Five, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, said that the bond is an important component in relation to upgrading policies of the Ministry of Health and to ensure citizens in the region receive better medical care.

This year, the budgetary allocations for Region Five represents a 13 per cent increase when compared to the previous year’s allocation, and while authorities in that region have gone ahead to extend invitations for contractors to bid for the respective projects, it is certainly not the only one to benefit from heftier finances.

For instance, in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), the administration was allocated $2.5 billion for works across the various sectors. The disaggregation shows $190M being set aside for regional administration and finance; $269 million for public works; $1.4 billion for improved education delivery; $623 million for better health services, while $30 million has been allocated to support the agriculture sector of that hinterland region.

The allocation for Region Eight also covers the reconstruction of several wooden bridges, into concrete structures. It was during the May-June 2021 rains that government recognised how susceptible the timber bridges were to inclement weather and as a result the decision was taken to construct replacements across all Hinterland regions.

Nonetheless, the works slated for all the regions are expected to be in line with government’s agenda to improve infrastructure across all sectors, for the benefit of all sectors, since infrastructural development has been described as key to multi-sectoral advancement.

It is for this reason that the Public Works Sector was allocated the biggest cut of $96 billion in the 2022 budget.