-President Ali announces, outlines plans for shade houses, upgrades for infrastructure

PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali has announced that a sum of around $42 million will be allocated to the hinterland community of Monkey Mountain in Potaro-Siparuni (Region Eight) to aid the local village authorities in implementing various large-scale development initiatives.
The Head of State, who met with residents on Wednesday during community outreach, disclosed that funding has been made available to assist the community with the construction of a village mechanic shop at the tune of $15 million, while another $12 million has been made available to support the construction of a multipurpose facility.

Meanwhile, some $5 million will facilitate the construction of an art and women centre, another $5 million will go to a block making project and the construction of shade houses, respectively.
“In this community, there is tremendous opportunity to build prosperity,” the President said, adding, “We have to invest in this community in what we call climate smart agriculture, where we involve the young people and we invest in short cycle crops that will bring greater revenue to the community and to the region.”

The Ministry of Agriculture, he noted, will support local farmers to develop short cycled crops and provide the market to ensure revenue is being brought back into the community.
The government, he noted, will continue to provide the resources necessary to support the community’s economy.
President Ali further reflected on the tremendous achievements that have been made in the hinterland community over the past four years.
He highlighted that the government has invested close to $600 million alone in the community.

“If you look at the impact, these expenditures would have had on your community and the opportunities that these investments would have created in your community, it shows that we were able to work with you on delivering projects that brought direct impact to you.”
Meanwhile, to further promote job creation, he noted that the government would seek to establish a programme that would support youths who wish to join the military, the police, or the health profession to receive training.

“We want to discuss with the community how we can get some rural constables sworn so that they can work with the police, we want to work with the community to identify persons who may want to join the military, and the police force so that we can take your information and help you get the training.”

In addition, the government will allocate additional resources to assist in the rehabilitation of several key bridges, thus supporting the improvement of infrastructure.
“I am now telling you that we are going to give you some additional resources now under the Ministry of Public Works. We will give the money to complete three important bridges in your community. You will do it yourself, we will give you the resources so you can create the employment right here in the community.”

He further pointed out that with continued support from the government, the community was able to construct a new village office, furnish a guesthouse and execute a number of other projects over the past four years.
Funding, he noted, was made through presidential grants, the country’s sale of its carbon credits and supplementary budget funding.
The government, as he pointed out, was able to allocate additional funds in the budget to facilitate the development of the hinterland. He further mentioned that an estimated $10 million was earmarked for this purpose. A supplemental budget of 5 million has been allocated for the betterment of the community.