-for Infrastructural development

-by Celestine Chacon

Residents of Potaro-Siparuni (Region Eight) are set to benefit from more than $900 million in funding to upgrade roads and bridges in communities across the region.

This was revealed by Regional Executive Officer Marti DeSouza.

DeSouza said each of the region’s 31 Community Development Councils (CDCs) has received approximately $30 million following the recently concluded National Toshaos Conference.

“After the recent rainy season a number of calls were made for emergency works to be done. What we will be doing is that the communities are now given the capacity to do repairs to their own roadwork’s, to their own roads and bridges. That’s $30 million to 31 communities,” he said.

DeSouza says the Ministry of Public Works will also provide clusters of villages with heavy-duty equipment, including bulldozers, graders, dump trucks, rollers and backhoes that will aid in the operations.

“Ten young people will be trained from every cluster to operate the machinery, what it means is that we will now be empowering our young people right within the communities and the monies will be circulating within the communities,” he added.

While the programme is being rolled out in Region Eight, it is expected to be replicated in other hinterland regions, including Regions One, Seven and Nine.