REGION Six, East Berbice/Corentyne, home to three of Guyana’s six towns, has become a vital part of the development equation as it boasts some of the largest and most modern infrastructural projects. The state-of-the-art Skeldon sugar factory; an ophthalmology hospital at Port Mourant, the only one of its kind in the Caribbean; the newly-built New Amsterdam hospital; a modern highway from New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek; technical training centres; new water treatment plants; drainage and irrigation structures; huge secondary schools equipped with computer laboratories; and most importantly, the Berbice River Bridge, all stand as testimonies to this development.
But all of this could not have been possible without the foresight of the administration, as Region Six is part of a wider vision for a modern country, where the road has literally been paved for integration with Guyana’s eastern neighbour, Suriname.

With optimism high for an oil find in the Corentyne River, and CGX soon to begin drilling for the precious resource, Region Six will take on an even greater role in a modern Guyana.
The Regional Democratic Council will this year continue the modernisation of the county, having been allocated $3.2 billion for current and capital projects, an increase of about 9% over last year’s allocation. Focus will be on further development of agriculture, health, education and the public works sectors.

Agriculture and Drainage and Irrigation
According to Region Six Chairman Zulfikar Mustapha, significant emphasis will be placed on the agriculture sector as $116M has been allocated to ensure its sustainability in 2011. The sector had a spending capacity of $97M in 2010 that saw major works being done to further diversification which resulted in more land being developed for agricultural purposes.
Over the past four years, he said, productive agricultural land increased from 30,000 acres to 60,000 acres, an increase of 100%.
In 2010, major works were done in the development and maintenance of drainage and irrigation structures, and other facilities that resulted in the region being able to achieve greater production levels. This, he said, will continue under the 2011 work programmes so as to ensure the outstanding performance is sustained.
Major irrigation works, he noted, were also done in several flood-prone areas, including Number 19 Village canal and other surrounding communities.
He also noted that the Ministry of Agriculture recently awarded a contract for the construction of a main drainage sluice at the mid-point area in Number 19 Village.
In addition to this Region Six is equipped with four drainage pumps at Sea-well, Borlam, Eversham, Adventure, Number 43 village, Whim and Liverpool.
Over the past six years, major emphasis was placed on D&I as it is a critical player in agricultural production.

Public Works
Continuing with the thrust this year, to ensure farmers can have proper access to their farmlands and to transport their produce, as well as to improve road access for thousands of residents, the allocation under the public works sector has been increased from $49M to $65M, which will cater for the rehabilitation and completion of more community roads and access to farmlands.
He said that by mid-2010, all of the road works were completed in the region and additional sums were secured from the Ministry of Finance for other works and community roads.
Over 150 community access roads were paved and rehabilitated under a collaborative works programme with the Office of the President and the Ministries of Public Works and Finance in 2010.
This trend, according to Mustapha, will continue in 2011, under the Urban Roads Project that will see rehabilitation and maintenance works being carried out on 76 roads across the township.
Meanwhile, under other works, a contract will be signed to complete 35 additional roads in the NDCs.
In addition, over 200 community roads are being rehabilitated this year in new and existing housing schemes under the miscellaneous programme that the Ministries of Finance and Public works have been executing through the RDCs.
“Road works on the east and west Canje have been completed and works have started on the 22 miles access road in Black Bush Polder,” Mustapha said.
He also noted that $15M is to be expended on rehabilitation and maintenance on the East Bank Berbice road from Everton to Mara.

Continuing the education drive
This year, major works to the tune of $51M will be done on three schools: Canje Secondary, New Amsterdam Multilateral and the Corriverton Primary school, while some rehabilitation works will also be carried out at the Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary School.
Reflecting on last year’s capital works, the regional chairman said $36M was expended for education, with three nursery schools being built at Port Mourant, Cumberland and Upper Corriverton.
The school in Orealla was also expanded to cater for a secondary department and last year 26 students wrote CXC.
A new students’ dorm was constructed in Orealla to facilitate Siparuta students.
Decentralizing Health Services
The Regional Chairman pointed out that the health sector has seen a major increase in this year’s budgetary allocation, with $27M being earmarked to cater for the health needs of its citizens. Works are on stream for better service including the construction of two new health centres at Whim and at Number 53 Village, Corentyne.
He noted that with contributions from the Basic Needs Trust Fund, this objective will be achieved shortly and rehabilitation will soon commence on storage for drugs at New Amsterdam to ensure the procurement of more drugs, since the region over the years tended to experience shortages.
Projects in Amerindian Communities
Meanwhile, in the Amerindian communities, works will commence in Orealla/Siparuta in the form of a revetment on the waterfront that will cost close to $15M. New lines will also be laid there, pumps will be installed in Orealla, and works will commence on the Barakara Health Centre.
The Youth Choice building at Orealla was converted into a computer centre for residents.
Housing and Water
Mustapha also noted that significant achievement was made in the housing sector over the past six years, with the creation of six new housing schemes.
At present, he said that discussions are on-going with private land owners in the Upper Corentyne to procure more land to satisfy the housing demand in the region.
He noted that Berbice is now the centre of attraction and development in Guyana, and is also of interest to businessmen as they have been gravitating to Region Six to invest, thus creating a need for more land and manpower.
He boasted that a majority of the residents in Region Six are receiving treated water from the four wells at New Amsterdam, Rose Hall, No.56 Village and Skeldon.
Mustapha pointed out that though every new housing scheme cannot have water treatment plant facilities immediately, plans are in the pipeline to devise a way to reduce the iron content in the water that some areas are receiving.