The government has been gearing Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) to transform its dependency on the mining sector into diversified development that would improve the region’s economy.
And integral to this transformation has been the Five-Year Development Plan, according to Regional Executive Officer (REO) Henry Rodney, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported on Monday.
According to GINA, he said the plan is funded by the Linden Economic Advance-ment Programme (LEAP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The LEAP component underscores capacity-building and the provision of an economic planner, while UNDP has provided a social scientist to examine social cohesion and problems highlighted by stakeholders and partners involved in the development process.
The REO said that a series of community consultations were held to determine the issues and needs, taking into consideration factors such as race, politics, beliefs and backgrounds to produce a holistic analysis.
Region Ten’s strategic plan serves as a pilot project and will be a useful guide for regional development. According to GINA, this fits into the thrust of local government reform, since a key element stipulates that each region must have a sound plan to realise standardised objectives to foster development.
The strategy will also provide a framework on how the region could maximize its benefits in each sector from an all-encompassing process with a well-defined system of transparency, accountability and feedback, Rodney said.
The first draft of the report was submitted at the end of November last and the final report will be presented in a month.
GINA reported that another initiative of the government to offer alternative activities to the region has been the West Watooka Agricultural Project. This is a three-year plan estimated to cost $10M which caters for the expansion of drainage and irrigation canals and structures to allow more farming activities.
Farming has been the substitute activity encouraged in Linden to stimulate income, create jobs and ensure food security.
Farmers have received training and funding from LEAP through the Linden Economic Advancement Fund (LEAF). There are about 500 farmers cultivating cash crops.
The government’s budgetary allocation to Region 10’s Regional Democratic Council (RDC) for 2006 was $120M, GINA added.
