Hinterland communities to benefit from COVID-19 relief supplies
— Regions 8 and 9 are the targetted areas
DPI, Guyana, Sunday, August 9, 2020
Earlier today, the newly-appointed Ministers of Local Government, Hon. Nigel Dharamlall, and Amerindian Affairs, Hon. Pauline Campbell-Sukhai, received COVID-19 relief supplies from the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) to help curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus in the hinterland regions.
[From left] CDC’s Director-General, Lt. Col. Kester Craig, Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Hon. Pauline Campbell-Sukhai, and Minister of Local Government, Hon. Nigel Dharamlall.
Speaking on the importance of the CDC’s COVID-19 relief donations, Minister Dharamlall stated:
“Today, we will be travelling to provide support for the villages in Regions 8 and 9, with specific target areas of villages that are contiguous to the Brazilian border.”
Some of those villages include Itabac, Kanapang, Kurukabaru, Sand Creek and Shulinab.
The Minister described his transitioning into the Ministry as “relatively seamless.”
He further highlighted that it is paramount for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development to administer the affairs of the regions, and along with its direct involvement with the National COVID-19 Task Force to ensure the food hampers received are distributed to the hinterland communities.
Minister Campbell-Sukhai, explained that her ministry will be tackling issues throughout the hinterland regions, with specific focus on the families affected by the novel coronavirus.
“Today’s donation will be of support for the families in the hinterland, particularly in Regions 8 and 9, because some of their supplies usually come from across the border… and for us to contain COVID-19 from spiralling, we have to keep our population in and ensure they follow all the health protocols.”
Minister Sukhai commended the CDC for its continuous support throughout the pandemic. She reiterated the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’ commitment to collaborate with the commission to combat COVID-19.
The Ministers will be travelling to Regions 8 and 9 today to distribute the food hampers and other COVID-19 relief donations to the affected families.
The COVID-19 relief donations were received on August 5 and were supplied through the CDC’s arrangement with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the World Health Organisation (WHO), CARICOM, Jack Ma and the United Arab Emirates.