Residents can undertake community projects

-grants up to $5M available

-Minister Dharamlall 

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Hon. Nigel Dharamlall says he would like to see community projects being undertaken by residents.  The Minister made this statement in his address to residents of Nonpareil and nearby East Coast Demerara communities at a meeting today.  

The Minister said these projects are part of the Government’s efforts to create jobs as outlined in its manifesto. He said there are 184 Community Development Councils (CDC) countrywide that will assist in that effort.

“We would like to give community projects to different groups, in different communities in your area and I have made it known to the REO and to the RDC of Region Four, that any project that has to be done in your area, not the ones that you do not have resources to manage, that they must be done by people within the different community,” he said.

Minister Dharamlall said it has been made known to the various agencies of the government that CDC groups and neighbourhood democratic councils can benefit from community grants.  The grants are up to $5 million for projects within communities. The Minister said he hopes that Government resources are sought by the various communities to improve their livelihoods.

“We do not want you to extend yourself and be involved in infrastructural works that you cannot manage. The heavy lifting for infrastructural work will be done by the Government, central or regional. We would like small community groups to focus on things that are going to directly transform the small communities.

What we want is you getting opportunities to get employed. We would like to help some of you become contractors. We would like to see people from Nonpareil applying for contracts at the RDC. Anyone who is desirous of doing community projects, anyone who is desirous of applying to the RDC now that tenders are out, if you have skills that you can actually do some contracts, I would like to see it is happening coming out of this area,” he said.

Government, in its manifesto, promised to create 50,000 jobs over five years. The 2021 budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development is $58 billion.