Women’s shelter, community centres for Linden

– US. Southern Command, Exercise New Horizon 2019

DPI, GUYANA, Monday, June 4, 2018

Starting in January US army civil engineers will begin building a women’s shelter and two community centres in Linden under “Exercise New Horizon 2019”.

The women’s shelter will be for those women who have suffered some form of abuse and need help, while the community centres will serve as the much-needed spaces for youths to gather to conduct activities and develop themselves outside of school.

This was revealed by Mayor of Linden, Waneka Arrindell who attended a meeting this May in Arizona with the United States Southern Command to discuss their long standing commitment to Guyana.

“The Government of Guyana and the United States Armed Forces have embarked on the New Horizon Project. For Linden it will be two-fold, health and engineering. The engineering aspect is the building of the women’s shelter and two community centres, one in Amelia’s Ward, and Blueberry Hill.”

The Mayor said that the planning session allowed for the Guyana delegation’s input and saw the securing of the land for the projects: “It saw us being able to create the space, we were able to design what the women’s shelter will look like and what the two community centres will look like. That project runs off next year where the persons will come on the ground and start putting down those buildings.”

US forces medical professionals “will conduct outreaches at the town’s hospitals and the Egbert Benjamin Exhibition & Conference Centre,” she said. “We hope we can bring persons from along the highway and Kwakwani to be part of the sessions. We have also collaborated with the Regional Democratic Council to identify riverine communities where the US Forces will also go to offer medical services.” There will also be a sports camp for students from Grades 6 to 9, and the distribution of school supplies.

New Horizons is an annual training exercise for U.S. military civil engineers and medical professionals that prepares participants to deploy, conduct joint operations with partner nations, and redeploy back to the United States. It has been in Guyana in 2004 and 2009 conducting construction of clinics and schools and medical outreaches.

 

By: Stephon Gabriel.