Workshop on sustainable development held for city officials

Officials from the various municipalities have benefited from a workshop on sustainable management and development, held on Thursday at Cara Lodge in Quamina Street, Georgetown.
Those present were addressed by Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan, who explained that participation is the key towards driving sustainability into the towns of Guyana.
“In Guyana, we’re in a transition as far as the governance architecture is concerned. This is a transition from a centralised approach to governance to a decentralised one, and the trajectory is moving in a different direction,” the minister posited.
He added that the restoration of these towns cannot be an ‘overnight endeavour,’ and would therefore involve work on the part of many entities and individuals.
These discussions would also facilitate the ideas which would prove to be beneficial to the townships, after looking at external factors which would be assisted by the Office of the Climate Change of the Ministry of the Presidency.
“Our local democratic organs, including our municipalities and NDCs (Neighbourhood Democratic Councils), are not cosmetic organs. They’re not appendages of the Central Government, but this shift from the centralised model that is largely obtained is not one that will happen overnight.”
While highlighting the remodelling that was done to the newly introduced towns, Bulkan explained that Central Government is willing to extend a helping hand to see materialisation of the additional initiatives proposed by the councils.
Bartica Mayor Gifford Marshall also shared his remarks on some of the initiatives that his town hopes to achieve in the future. These include the concepts of electric bicycles and hybrid cars, which they hope to bring soon to the community under collaborative efforts with public and private entities.
In relation to Thursday’s planning and discussions, he advised, “Whenever we make decisions, our intentions are often in the right place but we have to able to analyse our decisions and consider the unintended consequences.”
The mayors, town clerks and councillors of these respective towns, along with United Nations (UN) representatives, were given the chance to demonstrate their ideas and opinions for the establishment of sustainable townships.
Meanwhile, from the discussions, it was revealed that some areas of concern should be taken into consideration before these are developed: such as acknowledgement of diversification, protecting and capitalising the natural resources, the inclusion of innovations and sustainable energy.