The construction of a new Community Development Council (CDC) office, at Washerpond Road, Mackenzie Linden, will commence within the next three weeks.
The one-storey modern facility will be used as an office for the CDCs that are without an office at present as well as the regional CDC officers. It will also be used as a business incubator which will aid in bringing in funds for its maintenance and for community projects.
A sod-turning ceremony was held on Wednesday to mark the start of the project. In attendance were Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valarie Adams-Patterson-Yearwood, National Director of CDC, Eugene Gilbert, Regional Chairman, Renis Morian, Mayor of Linden, Waneka Arindell and other officials from the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LMTC).
National Director of CDCs Eugene Gilbert noted that the building is a big boost for Linden. He noted that “a lot of the CDC groups do not have their offices, so they can use the incubator as their office until they become self-sustaining and can have their own office.”
Two thousand blocks for the building construction have already been purchased.
It was highlighted that the construction is a collaboration among the 63 registered CDC’s in Region Ten, the RDC, LMTC and donors.
According to National Director, Gilbert, “It will require a lot of support from the RDC, the LMTC and the donor community because we are also sourcing some funding from the donor communities generally, but we need to bring the project to a stage where the donor community can see strong evidence of the progress we would have made. So, we would be seeking aid for completion to the final stage,” he said.
The National CDC office is working along with the established CDCs, to build capacity within the communities, and also to establish other CDC’s where there is a need.
According to a DPI release, this building will be the latest of a string of modern facilities that were constructed in Linden within the last year. This excludes the regional passport office, the One Mile Child Care Centre and the new E’ Division Head Quarters.
