Residents from the villages of Whim, Bloomfield, and other surrounding areas along the Corentyne Coast will now benefit from improved services with the addition of a brand-new tractor-trailer to the region’s fleet.
The new addition comes following mounting requests from residents and members of the Whim/Bloomfield Neighborhood Democratic Council (NDC)for assistance with a tractor to complement garbage collection activities within the villages.
During several meetings last year, residents voiced their concerns over the unhygienic state in several parts of the villages as garbage would be piled up for days in designated and undesignated areas. When questioned, members of the NDC indicated that they were in need of a tractor-trailer to carry out the necessary services but because of the lack of funds they were unable to procure one. They also said that it was affecting both the health and commercial activities of those residing within the catchment of the NDC.
Prime Minister, Mark Phillips and Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha recently handed over keys to a $5M tractor-trailer which was procured by the Agriculture Sector Development Unit (ASDU) under the Rural Agriculture Infrastructure Development (RAID) project.
While offering remarks, Minister Mustapha said residents have been complaining about garbage collection services within the area which continued to pose health threats to those residing within the NDC catchment.
Prime Minister Phillips during his remarks said Guyana is currently experiencing accelerated growth and that the government was focused on ensuring both the present and future generations benefit from the funds received from the country’s oil and gas resources.
“We are now at a stage in Guyana where all of us are experiencing and being part of accelerated development; development at a faster pace than anyone of us would’ve experienced before in Guyana…I’m here to tell you that you have a government that is focused not only on collecting the oil and gas money and putting it into a fund to watch it grow. We are committed to feeding, building, and ensuring all the people are alive today benefit from that money, while at the same time, we’ll put aside an amount so future generations can benefit. That is our approach to government,” the Prime Minister noted.
Minister Mustapha also told the gathering that the government has been working to strengthen the infrastructure within the villages after they would’ve been neglected prior to August 2020.
“I know for a fact that in this community and in a number of other communities, we’ve seen many pieces of infrastructure were neglected. Since we’ve resumed office, we’ve started a transformation in this community. Over 21 streets were either built of are in the process of being completed. Right here in Whim; when you look at the entire Whim/Bloomfield NDC; it is the most flood-prone area out of the three villages,” he explained.
He disclosed that it is the hope of the government that the village’s agricultural activities are revitalized with the planned infrastructural upgrades that will be executed during the course of the year.
