[www.inewsguyana.com] – More communities continue to be involved in consultation meetings for the massive $500M clean up exercise that is scheduled to begin this month.
On Saturday (August 2), residents of Alberttown pointed out issues to the Ministry of Local Government officials and other stakeholders pertaining to what they believe are priorities at a meeting held at St. Ambrose Primary School; highlighting blocked alleyways and drains that lead to flooding.
One resident who has been living in Alberttown for 51 years noted that while attention must be given to all areas in the town, there are some low-lying areas that suffer tremendous flooding even with a short period of rain. He lamented that business people have been carrying out construction work and the waste material are all thrown in drains and sand blocks the alleyways.
Another resident pointed out that snakes are also found in her yard while the unclean water from flooding has caused her to become ill.
Other residents suggested ideas to the officials as what they would like to see done to enhance the city. Some residents recently collaborated and started cleaning their areas but they still need help from the Ministry.
The Ministry’s officials pointed out to the residents that they need to summit a proposal as to what are the areas that need to be cleaned. The residents after the meeting came together in various groups according to the streets they are living in, and started writing the proposal.
The Government of Guyana has allocated $1B in its 2014 budget for a Clean-Up my country programme with an allocation of $500M for Georgetown.
Consultations have been ongoing for several weeks to allow residents the opportunity to have their say. While in some communities there have been good turn-out and vibrant discussions, the same cannot be said for some areas.
Several contracts valued a total of $34.4m were recently inked for the de-silting of several main canals while a $5.8M contract for the de-silting of internal drains at Le Repentir Cemetery was granted. Work is expected to commence shortly at the burial site.
[Extracted and modified from GINA]
