Ramdas to dicsuss budget in Region Six constituency
PEOPLE'S Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/Civic) Parliamentary Representative for Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) constituency, Mr Kumkaran Ramdas will host a series of community meetings within the next two weeks. He told the Chronicle the purpose is to update his constituents on the various measures in Budget 2000 and their impact on social development. Ramdas said he has arranged to meet with farmers, as well, to inform them on Government's agriculture policy. Meanwhile, he said sum of $1.2 billion has been allocated in the national estimates to boost social services in Region Six, with major emphasis on education, health and agriculture. According to him, $204M is to be spent on capital works and $55M will be given Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) as subventions to facilitate their programmes. He said the main agricultural schemes, at Mara, East Bank Berbice and Black Bush Polder, Numbers 52-74 and Crabwood Creek on the Corentyne, are to benefit from improved drainage and irrigation and other infrastructural development. The investment in this sector is aimed at increasing agricultural production with hundreds more acres of land being cultivated, Ramdas explained. Under the Urban Development Programme, extensive work on roads, drainage and rehabilitation of markets will be done in the three Berbice municipalities, the Member of Parliament (MP) reported. In New Amsterdam, repairs would be undertaken on a large section of the market and several streets are to be resurfaced, including the eastern part of Pitt Street. At Rose Hall, the Town Hall is slated for repair while J.C. Chandisingh Middle Street and another are listed for surfacing. Main Street, Rampoor and Cemetery Road and the Number 79 Market in Corriverton, Corentyne, are also on the agenda for improvement this year, Ramdas announced. He added that a number of the busy thoroughfares like the Corentyne Highway would be upgraded and industrial estates at Belvedere, also on the Corentyne and New Amsterdam are likely to come on stream. The third phase of New Amsterdam Water Project will begin shortly and a similar expansion at Rose Hall town will send the flow to 40,000 residents between Fryish and Whim, the MP stated. Ramdas said the necessary arrangements are already in place for the inauguration of the Berbice campus of University of Guyana in September and Orealla, along the Corentyne River, will get a new primary school to accommodate 500 pupils.
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