- young females who benefited from BIT skills training hired as operators
Farmers and residents from areas within the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary Agriculture Development
Authority (MMA-ADA) Scheme, West Coast Berbice as well as those residing in Black Bush Polder,
Talorgie, and other surrounding communities on the Corentyne Coast will now benefit from further
improvements to their drainage systems following the addition of approximately $127 million worth of
heavy-duty machinery.
Through the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agriculture Sector Development Unit’s (ASDU) Flood Risk
Management Project (FRMP), seven excavators; six mini excavators, and one long boom excavator; were
procured through funding from the World Bank and added to the MMA’s and Region Six’s fleet of
machinery.
Agriculture Minister, Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha while offering remarks at the handing over exercise at the
MMA’s Onverwagt office said the two additional excavators being added to MMA’s fleet will be used to
carry out the desilting of internal drainage systems in the MMA scheme.
“Today, we’ll be handing over two brand new mini excavators to the MMA to further assist with
improving drainage in the scheme. These machines will be used to desilt internal and interlocking drains
within the housing areas,” the minister explained.
Furthermore, Minister Mustapha disclosed that two young females who benefited from skills training
offered by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) were hired by the MMA to operate the excavators.
“Here we have two young women who benefited from the BIT training and are now operators. They
were hired and will be the ones operating these machines. As a government, we believe in empowering
young people. These young women took the opportunity and are now certified excavator operators.
More young people should take up these opportunities. Get enrolled in these courses being offered by
the Board of Industrial Training so that you too can be gainfully employed,” Minister Mustapha added.
Venita Chatergoon, 27, who resides at Number Five Village, West Boast Berbice said she was previously
employed as a security officer. She said when she heard about the BIT programme, she enrolled and was
able to benefit from the much-needed skills training. Meanwhile, Divya Ragbir, 22 said she was elated to
be gainfully employed after recently becoming a certified excavator operator and thanked the
government for creating avenues for young people to receive critical skills training.
As is the case with the Agriculture Innovative Entrepreneurial Programme (AIEP), the BIT is
a government initiative offering specialized courses to empower young people through skills training
thus enabling them to be gainfully employed while also promoting entrepreneurship.
Meanwhile, at Black Bush Polder, while handing over two mini excavators to the Neighborhood
Democratic Council (NDC), Minister Mustapha said that the new equipment will be permanently
stationed in the polders to carry out drainage works in the residential areas. He also said that oftentimes
machinery is sent to do work following commitments made by officials. Those works, he added, are sometimes incomplete, and the machines are sent to other areas to carry out other works. He also told
those in attendance that each excavator would service two polders.
During a meeting at Talorgie, Minister Mustapha while handing over two mini excavators and a long
boom excavator said that the two mini excavators will be used to carry out critical drainage works in the
residential areas. In contrast, the long boom excavator will be used to clear canals and carry out other
drainage works in the cultivation areas. He also said that a work programme will be developed to guide
the works and that critical works will be prioritized.
Desilting and other drainage works are expected to commence in the coming week.
Minister Mustapha also encouraged the regional officials to engage the Ministry of Labour so that more
young female operators who benefited from skills training offered by BIT could be hired.
