PROJECTS CHECK: President Bharrat Jagdeo and members of his team at yesterday’s meeting. (Photo, courtesy GINA)
GINA said Bourne reported that future project areas were discussed with Mr. Jagdeo during the meeting.
According to the agency, referring to the specific dollar figure for these projects, Bourne said currently it is about US$21M but of that amount US$7M is already being expended on three existing projects which leaves $14M for future developmental schemes.
“We want to use the model of the community projects we have had in places like Parika and extend that model to other communities,” he said, the agency reported.
GINA said that under the US$16M Community Services Enhancement Programme (CSEP), Parika, Charity, Supenaam and Bartica have begun benefiting from infrastructural projects.
CSEP, it said, was developed by the government to improve and prepare the identified areas for township status by focusing on both infrastructural and institutional strengthening.
CDB TEAM: CDB President, Dr. Compton Bourne, centre, and other bank officials at the meeting yesterday. (Photo, courtesy GINA)
“We were thinking that perhaps a dozen more communities to improve the overall services in the communities, so the people have not only more service available to them, but that there would be a stimulus for business activities and employment available to those areas. So I think we have a basis for going forward for the rest of the year,” the CDB President said.
GINA said Guyana has benefitted enormously from CDB funds in areas of much needed technical and economic support for development.
Bourne, it reported, said he wanted to ascertain the government’s view on the progress of existing CDB projects. “I think the general feeling is that those have been going very satisfactorily. Of course, there are always little things to be ironed out but on the whole it has been satisfactory.”
Bourne yesterday visited Parika, East Bank Essequibo, to check on the community enhancement programme there, and is expected to visit the new housing scheme and Diagnostic Centre at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, sea defence projects, and the Hubu Road project, East Bank Essequibo, among other projects.
Also at yesterday’s meeting at the Office of the President, were Head of the Presidential Secretary and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Ms. Jennifer Webster and Mr. Irfaan Ali, National Project Coordinator of the Ministry of Finance. Over the past four years, Guyana has undertaken several projects with funding from the CDB.
These include the Secondary Towns Development Project, the Skeldon Modernisation Project, the Poor Rural Communities Support Services Project (PRCSSP) - Drainage and Irrigation Component (D&I), Road Improvement and Maintenance Projects and the Basic Needs Trust Fund Programme (BNTF). CSEP was approved by the CBD Board of Directors on July 14, 2005 and is a spin-off of the bigger Secondary Township Project.
GINA said a release from the Finance Ministry yesterday indicated that several projects were completed and implemented under phase five of a Special Development Fund (SDFV) made available by the CDB.
The projects include the reconstruction of sea defence at Profit/Foulis, West Coast Berbice, where two kilometers of sea defence were constructed to protect the coastal zone from flooding, and prevent further salinization of agricultural lands and damage to property, livestock and crops. This project costs over $1B. Another road project consists of an eight km four-lane access road from the Demerara Harbour Bridge to Ruimveldt, and the resurfacing, rehabilitation and rebuilding of roads from the Demerara Harbour Bridge to Best Road, Vreed-en-Hoop.
The US$65M Skeldon Sugar Modernization Project is another example of the cooperation between the government and the CDB, the agency said. The total value of the bank’s loan for this project is about US$28.2M. Additionally, the agency said, CSEP, which seeks to transform Charity, Supenaam, Bartica and Parika to the status of secondary towns, is another initiative between the government and the CDB.
Under the infrastructure component of this project the improvement of 33 km of roads in the four communities, the rehabilitation of Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) offices in Charity and Bartica, construction of a new stelling at Supenaam and a new market at Bartica, among other initiatives, were included. The total cost of the project infrastructure, which was divided into six packages, exceeds $2.5B.
Over the next two days, GINA said, the government and the CDB would seek a general consensus on the programming of resources allocated to Guyana under the SDFVI.
The administration will also be seeking to embark on a solid waste project for Bartica, Supenaam, Charity and Parika, and a Technical Vocational Education Training Programme which includes constructing two new technical institutes in Regions Three and Five, the agency said.
Hmmmm...US$14 million.
Couldn't we see some of that to develop our tourism dreams.
We could have a new airport and still have change to spare !!!
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