500 hampers prepared for flood-affected Amerindian villages

With the objective of supporting Amerindian villages severely affected by the nationwide flooding, the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), in collaboration with the British High Commission through the European Union Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (EU-FLEGT) Programme, prepared some 500 food and sanitation hampers for distribution.

Some 70 per cent of hinterland and Amerindian villages have been severely affected by the unprecedented nationwide flooding. Logging and mining activities, the main stimulators of the economies in the Amerindian villages have slowed down as a result of the flooding.

At a handing over ceremony at GFC’s office in Georgetown, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, MP, spoke of the significance of the hamper distribution.

“I am sure that these hampers will go a long way in bringing relief to our brothers in the hinterland regions, in the logging areas especially. This is added to the efforts the Government of Guyana and the private sector have been making over the last couple of months, since we were not only braced with the flooding situation but also the global pandemic.”

Meanwhile, the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, noted the longstanding cooperation between the GFC and the High Commission and the support that is being given.

“I think the devastating floods this year have been seen by many of us; we have seen the photographs and many of us have been to the communities and we have seen the impacts that those floods have had on those communities. And in line with our commitment to our work on the forestry sector it is only right that we support those communities and we are proud of the support we’re giving today.”

These 500 hampers will be distributed to Amerindian villages in Regions Two, Three, Nine and Ten in the coming week.