–replete with playground chockful of amusement toys

A SPANKING new building housing a Community Centre was handed over to the community of Moblissa, on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway on Sunday during the opening ceremony hosted by Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), the same company that also funded the project.

Giving an overview of the project, Wesley Kirton, DDL Government Affairs Consultant told the large gathering of villagers that two years ago, he, along with others from DDL were there to establish a dairy farm.

He recalled that the residents of Moblissa not only welcomed them with open arms, but also showed their appreciation for the major transformational US$20M project the company had established there.

Kirton stated that a new bridge was constructed following their second outreach to the village, and pretty soon, they began moving limestone to the farm via trucks. But due to the deplorable condition of the road leading from the main highway into the village, they were stuck.

This setback, he said, forced them to offload the limestones, all 26 truckloads of them, and ask the residents to keep an eye on them.

Kirton said that true to their word, for a week there was no depletion of the limestones and everything was incident-free.

“It was the locals’ first demonstration of understanding and commitment to the company, and last year, a Christmas party was held in an incomplete building, and the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Komal Samaroo was invited, and they enjoyed the event thoroughly,” he said.

However, Samaroo, feeling that the people of Moblissa deserved better, asked his colleagues to get the building ready for Mashramani, but when they consulted with a qualified contractor, they learnt that edifice had no foundation.

As such, the building was demolished, a new foundation was constructed, and a brand-new flat concrete building took shape. The project was undertaken by DDL as a gift to the community.

Kirton told the gathering that with the help of residents, the building was completed, and on Sunday last, the opening took place. Samaroo was on hand with others to cut the ribbon, signalling the opening of the facility.

He revealed that Gail Seeram of GAIL Foundation Inc. out of Florida, USA, donated a playground comprising of a swing, a slide and a see-saw and gifted all children present with a stuff-animal toy and a snack pack of goodies, while the adults benefitted from a care package each, following an opening ceremony as well.

CULINARY TRAINING
Kirton disclosed that a stove was also donated to the Moblissa Community Centre to enhance the cooking skills of the locals via a culinary training programme and can even be utilised for community-based events.

In addition, he was pleased to see the building was outfitted with curtains, but a donor will be identified to have the floor of the building tiled.

Kirton reported that 25 farmers are onboard from the community to provide fresh fruits for DDL’s subsidiary Topco for the production/supply of fresh fruit juices.

He told the gathering on Sunday that DDL will also fund an electrification project, in which distribution lines will be installed in the village and to the farm, but villagers will have to pay for their electricity via the Linden Electricity Company for domestic use.

Meanwhile, Ingrid Lowe, an overseas-based Guyanese, who is here on a visit, donated some shelves/books for a library to be established at the Moblissa Community Centre.

Gail Seeram told the crowd on Sunday last that she is a Guyanese who departed these shores at age five years old, and is an Immigration attorney in the US for the past 25 years who established a non-governmental organisation.

Seeram returned to Guyana in 2010, and, seeing a need for playgrounds, donated her first to an orphanage, after which she donated a total of 15 playgrounds across the country for children.

She explained that playgrounds are an important part of development for children to have a safe space to play, for recreation and exercise to relieve mental fatigue.

Among the attendees was Robin van Puyenbroeck, Co-Chair of US Exim Bank who brought his son, Gabriel along for the trip to Guyana, pledged his commitment to contributing to the development of the community.

He told the locals that he is eager to see the completion of the project of the DDL dairy farm and he will ensure the village benefit from an all-weather road.

In remarks, DDL Chairman/CEO, Komal Samaroo reported that DDL is a local company and they will continuously do their part in the development of the community.

He said advance development comes from investment of economic activities creating world class products finding markets for it.

Samaroo added that DDL’s subsidiary, Topco, has been in business for the past 30 years, producing local fruit juices and their Savannah brand of milk is made form imported re-constituted powered milk but they wanted to produce their own fresh cow’s milk and has choose Mobilssa of its dairy farm.

He revealed that once the dairy farm is operational by the end of 2025, they will be producing their own freshly-packaged cow’s milk from Moblissa Village.

Samaroo stated that as a value chain they continue to create jobs for locals, who will be trained to operate the diary equipment to uplift society and the stakeholders will ultimately benefit from the project.