A new Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) office has been commissioned by Local Government and Regional Development Minister Sonia Parag on Wednesday in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). Since the establishment of the NDC, there was no proper office for it to carry out its operations.
When Local Government Elections were held in June 2023, what was then the largest NDC in the country, the 52-74 NDC, was split, forming two NDCs: the 52-63 NDC and the 64-74 NDC.
The newly-commissioned NDC building
At the time, there was a sub-office for the previous 52-74 NDC at Number 71 Village. That office became the office for the 64-74 NDC.
Because of the lack of space, council meetings were held under a private residence situated opposite the sub office, with four to five government part-time workers attached to the 64-74 NDC staff and councillors.
With limited space available, there was a need for a new building to be constructed. Hence, the newly commissioned $18.3 million building.
Minister Parag, speaking at the simple commissioning ceremony, noted that the NDC is now empowered to do what it should be doing. However, she said, councillors still have the responsibility to go into the field and serve the community.
“We will have many more going to be built and refurbished. But what does it do? It is enabling you to be in an environment where you can comfortably work and carry out your functions. But again, I will emphasise, don’t let this be the only place where you’re working from. Make sure that you are touching base every day with the community in the communities, because that is what matters,” the minister has said.
Local Government and Development Minister, Sonia Parag partakes in the ribbon cutting ceremony
The minister said her ministry will be working closely with the NDCs, their subventions, and work programmes to ensure that residents feel the impact.
“Later this year, we will be giving to each NDC a new compacted garbage truck for every single NDC throughout the country. That is going to help the garbage pick-up. We are developing several other landfill sites in Region Six that will be able to help in the disposal of garbage as well. We have also empowered you with mini-excavators through the Ministry of Agriculture to be able to tackle drainage issues, and you have gotten fogging machines to assist with the health issues such as dengue and so on,” Minister Parag highlighted.
She pointed out that with increased funding being made available to the Local Government Ministry, subventions to NDCs and Municipalities have increased significantly. As from this year, NDC subventions have moved from $5M annually to $30M, which will allow those agencies to be able to do more for the respective communities.
“We were able to build some NDC buildings from scratch. While we could not do that for all of the NDCs, we were making sure that we were able to still put some funds that could rehabilitate those. So, what you are looking at here is one of the recent, or most recent, designs that we have had for the NDC buildings.
“Cane Grove has one that is very similar to this one in terms of design. I want to say how efficient it was that we were able to get this building up very quickly and in a very timely manner, so that we can carry on our business as an NDC. But on that point, I also want to say that now that we have a very comfortable and very beautiful building, it does not mean that the NDC councillors will sit in here all day. It just means that you will be processing, as per your functions, what you have to do administratively, but you are still responsible to the people to do your field work. So, you still have to go out there and make sure that you do your field work,” she told the councillors.
