Stakeholders beautifying National Aquatic Centre
THE Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC), last Friday, joined with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and other stakeholders to make a contribution towards beautifying the compound of the National Aquatic Centre, at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara. The project embarked upon involved the acquisition and planting of 20 tropical foliage plants on the periphery of the premises.
The shrubs, bought by the Commission, were put down during a tree planting exercise which was spearheaded by Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs. Indra Chandarpal.
She said the WGEC wanted to do something tangible as a 46th Independence Anniversary undertaking and came up with the grand idea of planting the trees.
“We wanted to do something significant and, initially, thought of planting them along Vlissengen Road, between Thomas Lands and the seawall. But we considered that people might steal them. Then passing here and seeing that the place was bare, we thought that it would be the ideal place to plant them,” Chandarpal explained.
She said the National Aquatic Centre was thought to be the ideal location, since it is enclosed and there is adequate security. As a result, they contacted the responsible Minister and Permanent Secretary for approval.

Responsibility
Maintenance of the plants will be the responsibility of the Aquatic Centre.
When the plants mature, they will bear bright red flowers, which would lend to enriching the ambience of the environment.
“This is about the beginning of our collaboration with the Centre which is newly opened and we are happy to partner with them, especially since a lot of our young people – both men and women – will be coming here to utilise the place. So it’s a good initiative,” Chandarpal offered.
Meanwhile, the WGEC is hoping, now that it has started the beautification process of the compound, more Guyanese will come on board.
Others participating in the Friday function  included, Vice-Chairperson of the Commission, Ms. Cheryl Sampson; Ms. Magda Pollard (Ethnic/Cultural Group); Ms. Sandra Hooper (Rights of the Child); Ms. Henry of the Ministry of Health; Ms. Kim Cole;  Ms. Mynawattie Lagan and Mr. Peter Persaud.