The government is advancing a comprehensive drainage and irrigation programme in Region Four with the approval of $15,858,111 during the Committee of Supply to support maintenance across various communities on Thursday.
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Priya Manickchand, said this forms part of a broader effort to ensure cleaner environments and reduce the risk of flooding.
“This would be manual weeding and cleaning of greens and trenches,” the Minister Manickchand explained.
She noted that the programme will be executed on a quarterly basis, ensuring consistency throughout the year.
There will be several communities who will positively benefit from this programme, she said, adding that “there were about 12 pages more of names of communities that are going to be positively impacted by this maintenance of drainage and irrigation work.”
The local government minister informed the Committee of the wide reach of projects across Demerara-Mahaica.
In addressing concerns about implementation, she assured the committee that there would be a robust regulatory regime in place to administer the projects.
“We’re going to focus on better supervision to make sure that what we intend by providing this money and desire to see clean communities, that that’s actually realised by better supervision and an insistence that the work gets done,” she stated.
Minister Manickchand also reassured the committee that there will be rangers who will inspect the works and ensure they are up to par.
This initiative is meant to enhance drainage capacity, support sanitation, and improve living conditions for residents throughout the region.