The tight-knit, sugar-belt community of Rosehall in East Berbice-Corentyne, Region Six is earmarked for major infrastructural upgrades, with 354 acres to be modernised under the government’s Model Village Initiative spanning 23 communities nationwide.
Residents were provided with a detailed proposal covering roads, drainage, utilities and public spaces across the township’s 120 streets and roughly 30,4000 metres of roadway.
President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali led the process.
He was accompanied by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, Minister of Housing, Collin Croal and Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha.
Under the proposed works, five new bridges and 17 additional culverts will be constructed to improve water flow and connectivity, addressing what planners identified as overgrown and poorly draining existing drains.
Derelict vehicles, construction debris and parking issues will also be addressed in this undertaking, but president said it can only be successful if residents become responsible citizens.
“You can have enforcement, but you also [must] have dignity and responsibility as a people too,” the president underscored.
In addition, roads will be widened and repaved, with reinforced concrete drains, edge-line markings, pedestrian crossings, street signage and hard shoulders installed across several streets.
The township’s two existing play parks and green spaces, including the Hoyte Memorial Play Park, will be redeveloped with improved landscaping, lighting and rehabilitated facilities.
The plan also includes a utility pole rehabilitation phase to address leaning, damaged and improperly aligned poles, alongside a directive requiring telecommunications providers to remove hanging wire bundles from poles across the community.
A concessions programme is also being explored through the Guyana Development Bank to help bar and entertainment operators soundproof their premises, following reports that noise nuisance remains a leading complaint across communities visited under the initiative.
“We have to build neighbourhoods in which people are respectful to each other,” the president underscored.
Works will proceed in phases, starting with utility coordination, drainage preparation, drainage and access, pedestrian access, road improvements and greening, with a dedicated point of contact remaining available to residents for the duration of construction.