Gov’t’s interventions in Moraikobai create avenue for development, opportunities

Through the government’s input and intervention in various projects started by villagers of Moraikobai in Region Five (Mahaica Berbice), a new path has been created for development and opportunities especially for the younger population in the village.

Toshao, Mr. Derrick John said the village was able to complete many projects with positive responses from the PPP/C government. These projects have enhanced the way of life for villagers, and have boosted the economy of Moraikobai which is heavily involved in logging.

One major project is the introduction of tourism. Mr. John said the decision was made to go into eco-tourism, which he believes has great potential for the community.

“We start looking at alternative livelihood and we realised that we cannot depend too much upon the forest, cutting down the forest, so therefore one of the things the community decided is that we wanted to go into ecotourism which I think has great potential for the community…

We were able to have the support of the government to build an ecolodge, we have two structures there. One is the main building which has two self-contained bedrooms and we also have an office building with established internet there.”

The Toshao added that tourism will bring many benefits as farmers will be able to sell local organic produce to the ecolodge. There will be also be opportunities for young tour guides and jobs for transporting tourists.

Another important project that was completed in the community is the supply of 24-hours of electricity. Prior to that, electricity was supplied for four hours each day. However, as the community developed, there was a need for 24 hours of electricity and as such with the PPP/C government’s assistance in 2021, the project was completed.

“This Government responded and they were able to come and do the finalities and that was a big boost for the community because we were able to set up a battery bank there and now, we’re having 24-hour current,” Mr. John said.

Another successful project has been the supply of potable water to every household in the community. Mr. John said that with the increase in the population, there was a demand for water supply to go directly to the homes and to supply farm lands.

This issue was taken to the Government and was promptly addressed by the Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, M.P.

The Toshao also mentioned that a smart classroom was set up to assist students as schools were closed due to the pandemic. The smart classroom was one of the reasons for gaining a high pass rate from students who sat the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) this year.

“We know the challenge that this world is being faced with COVID, and a lot of the schools had to close and therefore, we had to look at new methods of teaching and one of the things that we thought would be best to help the school is setting up a smart classroom… and today we’re proud to say due to that we were able to have 100 percent pass rate at the recent National Grade Six Exams,” the Moraikobai Toshao stated.

The village also benefitted from the Government’s flood relief grant and distribution of food hampers for those affected by the country-wide flooding in May-June.