– central gov’t will work with NDCs to develop landfill sites, Jagdeo says

THROUGH collaboration with central government, all Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) will finally be able to tackle the issue of garbage collection head-on as People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said on Thursday that landfill sites in communities will be developed.

He told reporters this during a press conference at Freedom House.

“If you’ve been following, you’d recognise that it’s part of a bigger picture, part of a bigger plan to have NDCs, local government bodies generally, play a greater role in addressing many of the problems we face in the community, where the region and the central government can’t reach people at the household level,” the PPP General Secretary said.

He stated that the government has asked the NDCs to focus on a few areas, to fill the gaps that the region and central government cannot close, especially in the areas of small drainage and irrigation works in the villages.

Although there has been heavy focus by the government on the outfalls, water management and flood control, internal drainage systems are clogged up.

Because of this, excavators have been handed over to NDCs for them to deal with the issue.
However, the recent injection of an increased subvention to NDCs and municipalities will further help them to better the services provided in their areas.

Further, Dr Jagdeo, who also serves as Guyana’s Vice-President, stated that appropriate locations for landfill sites will be identified in communities. These locations will be created appropriately, so that NDCs can collect waste and dispose of it on site rather than incurring additional costs to transport it to landfills.

He said: “We are going to spend a sum of money working with them to ensure that in every local government body area, they have their own landfill site that they can manage and offer decent service to people.”

Vice-President Jagdeo last Friday announced that every NDC will receive $30 million as their new annual subvention, while every municipality will receive $50 million as theirs.

“We want to equip you with the tools to ensure that, going forward, that a part from what we focus on at the national level, you can deliver better services,” the Vice-President had said during an engagement with some councillors and other representatives from the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs) at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Previously, NDCs got subventions of about $5 million, while municipalities got about $18 million.

“We expect this money to be well spent. I asked the Minister of Agriculture to ensure that some of the communities got excavators. So, already, 68 excavators have been delivered or are in the process of being delivered to the NDCs and the towns, so you can now have equipment there,” Dr Jagdeo said.
Owing to the series of community engagements conducted by the government, Vice-President Jagdeo had previously said that Budget 2025 will focus on community issues and on further bettering the lives of Guyanese.

He had highlighted how the government has been able to get a more in-depth understanding of what the people want because of its people-centred approach.

Since assuming office, the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has focused on ensuring Guyanese live more comfortable lives.