The Department of Tourism of the Business Ministry announced the participating villages in the first ever Best Kept Village Competition to wrap up later this year. This initiative is a part of the calendar of activities in store for commemoration of Tourism Week to be observed in November.
Director General of Tourism, Donald Sinclair and a team from the Department of Tourism presenting the logistics of the Best Kept Village Competition
The competition is the brainchild of Business Minister Dominic Gaskin, which will see the restoration and enhancement of villages within the 10 administrative regions of Guyana, as they vie for the top prizes in each category. It is aimed at nurturing a passion for a clean, healthy and welcoming village while at the same time, restoring and enhancing pride through collaborative efforts to improve the environment.
Villages within the regions will be vying in the large, medium and small categories with the size of the population being the defining factor. The small village category is contested by areas with a population of fewer than 1000 persons, whereas the medium category welcomes villages with a population 1000 to 5000 and with the large comprising of over 5000 residents.
The responsibility to execute efforts of restoration, enhancement and beautification within the villages will lie in the hands of Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in each region, as well as the residents through self-help and partnership. Business entities and stakeholders are also invited to make their contributions to ensure that the projects undertaken by the respective villages will receive adequate support and sponsorship to offset their initiatives.
During a press briefing on Thursday, the Department of Tourism highlighted the logistics behind this inaugural nationwide competition. Donald Sinclair, the Director of Tourism, pointed out the judging criteria which will be used to determine the top runners. The criteria includes the absences of litter; the state of trenches, drains and canals; condition of public and private spaces and buildings, public conveniences as well as on going initiatives and efforts to improve and promote a visitor-friendly environment, among others.
Also disclosure at the press conference is the list of villages which will be contesting in the Best Kept Village Competition. The presented list indicated the participation of each of the 10 regions, some more enthusiastic with their entries than others. Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) recorded the highest entries with a total of 17 and 10 villages contesting respectively. However, Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) projected poor participation of only four villages altogether. In Region Four, Annandale, Beterverwagting/Triumph and Mocha are the contesting villages, all in the medium category; while in Linden, the lone contender is River’s View in the small village category. None the less, these two regions are confident in their few entries.
Thus far, 32 villages have entered the small village category, 22 in the medium and four in the large, giving rise to a total of 58 villages contending the Best Kept Village Competition.
Preparations for the competition within the regions are expected to be commence. The judging of the villages will commence in September and last through October, with the presentation of prizes to be done in November, Tourism Month. Monetary prizes will be awarded to winners in each of the categories to be invested in the further development of their region. This initiative will promote infrastructural and social improvement with the aim of expanding the tourism potential to each of the corners of Guyana.
