Reg. 10 off to early start on 2019 projects
DPI, Guyana, Friday, February 15, 2019
In 2018, Region 10, Upper Demerara-Berbice expended 99 per cent of its budget, and this year, Regional Executive Officer (REO), Orrin Gordon plans to make sure capital and current projects are tendered and awarded before the first quarter so that 100 per cent of the $4Billion budget will be spent.
Gordon said this year, the residents of Region 10, including those residing in riverain and outlying communities will see value for money.
In his budget presentation to the Council at February’s statutory meeting, Gordon said that the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) performed remarkably well. Figures show that for the administration $211M was expended, for public works $221M, for education $215M, and health saw $577M. The total budget for 2018 was just over $3Billion. Gordon also noted that 95 per cent of projects executed under maintenance and capital projects totalling $830M were awarded to contractors based in Region 10.
While the RDC has already established its capital budget for all projects for 2019, there are 38 rollover projects from 2018, which include the consultancy for the construction of the Bamia Nursery and Primary Schools.
“It is incumbent on us to execute very early; hence it would have been seen that tenders were out for at least 35 projects; 20 being capital and these are expected to be awarded by the end of February. That means we are in a better position than we were last year when our first award was made in April… We now have a chance to execute better, because we are starting earlier and there should be no reason why we shouldn’t complete our capital projects before the end of the first half,” Gordon said.
Some of the capital works that the region will benefit from in 2019 include the construction of two new schools, land and water transport for the health sector including a refrigerated truck, furniture and equipment for schools, and the upgrade of the Upper Demerara Hospital.
Since the primary concern of residents is roads, several are on the budget to be completed this year. These include Victory Valley access road, the second half of Main Street and Kara Kara access road, among others.
The attention will not only be given to Linden, as 14 capital projects will be completed in the riverain communities especially along the Berbice River.
Agriculture is a new programme head that is added to the RDC and $23M has been allocated. Priority will be given to the establishment of shade houses, seven of which will be established in secondary schools. The main objective is to increase agricultural production and output within the communities.
Story and images: Vanessa Braithwaite.