Dear Editor,
The fact that there are four new hinterland towns has gone unnoticed. These four new towns, Bartica (Region Seven), Mabaruma (Region One), Lethem (Region Nine) and Mahdia (Region Eight) were, prior to the APNU+AFC coalition government taking office, considered villages.
Now, these four towns can provide vital services to the people who reside therein. This is a major accomplishment as for years, residents of our hinterland were compelled to travel to other parts of the country to register their businesses or to renew their passports, to name a few.
Many of these essential services will soon be decentralized thereby allowing residents to conduct their businesses within their environs; their home.
The quartet are no longer labelled based on their economic and social activities. They are no longer termed “mining community”, “bush” or “backdam”. They are towns, managed by the people who live there. The very people who now have the power to chart the course of development. There are Mayors, Deputy Mayors, councillors and Town Clerks to manage the affairs of these newly minted towns.
The people of Bartica experience daily, President David Granger’s vision for “Capital Towns”. This government has spared no effort to demonstrate that they are prepared and ready to decentralize essential services.
For instance, by 2020 the township of Bartica will see the construction of an immigration office and a magistrate’s court. The construction of these essential edifices will significantly reduce the town’s dependency on Georgetown for related procedures.
Bartica has become Guyana’s green model town, attracting international attention as it pushes ahead with its green mandate.
The construction of a power station at Dagg Point, Region Seven, the construction of the Bartica Ferry Stelling, and the resurfacing of the Four to Five Miles Road, will see in excess of $1 billion being spent to further develop the town.
These investments are in addition to the billions of dollars already spent throughout the hinterland, aimed at bettering the lives of the citizenry and empowering our towns.
Bartica, Mabaruma, Mahdia and Lethem are no longer ‘bush’ or interior villages. They are pristine capital towns, governed by councils elected by the residents and supported by a democratic government.
Yours faithfully,
Gifford Marshall
Mayor
Municipality of Bartica
