10th town – Mahdia officially designated a town
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─ by way Order No.27 of 2018 published in Official Gazette dated 2018.08.09, Mahdia has been designated a township
─ joins, Bartica, Lethem and Mabaruma
DPI, Guyana, Monday, August 13, 2018
After a series of consultation, Mahdia in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) is now set to participate in this year’s Local Government Elections (LGE) as it has officially been named a town.
The Ministry of Communities said today that by way Order No.27 of 2018 published in the Official Gazette dated 2018.08.09 Mahdia in the Potaro-Siparuni region has been designated a township.
Mahdia was among a list of communities identified by President David Granger in 2015 to be commissioned as towns. The other three, Bartica, Lethem, and Mabaruma are already up and running, however, Mahdia was having some delays due to issues with internal boundaries.
According to the ministry, it is the intention of the administration to foster people’s empowerment through the strategic embrace of a decentralised form of governance. It said Mahdia will be the capital town of the Potaro/Siparuni region which is part of government’s vision of establishing, in collaboration with regional administrations, a town in each of the ten (10) development regions that will serve as the engine of growth and development of same.
“The ministry shares the excitement and is encouraged by the transformation that has taken place in the three (3) recently established townships as a result of local leaders seizing this opportunity of this empowerment exercise. These new urban centres are important allies in assisting to close the gap that exists between the hinterland and coastland regions,” the release said.
It said, Bartica is the home of Guyana’s first boardwalk, Mabaruma has transformed the Kumaka Waterfront and Lethem is quickly becoming the business hub of the Rupununi. A literal transformation has taken place in these three new townships aided by visionary democratic leadership that will be renewed in Guyana’s first post-independence consecutive holding of Local Government Elections (LGEs) come November 12, 2018.
The ministry said the foundation for the transformation of the new township has already begun with the upgrading of 80 percent of the internal roads from laterite to concrete that will last for decades. Moreover, plans have been advanced for the construction of a government compound that will house a number of government agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC), Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) and other agencies.
It said the boundaries of the new township excludes the titled Indigenous communities of Campbelltown and Micobie as is the expressed desire of those Village Councils following a series of consultations.
“The ministry will continue to partner with all townships to ensure that residents, regardless of where in Guyana, they have access to enhanced public services,” the ministry said.
By: Alexis Rodney
Images: Department of Public Information