Almost four months after taking office, Regional Chairman of Region Six, Zulfikar Mustapha is meeting the challenges of his new post by being “on the ball” with regular outreach visits around the region.
The chairman said so far he has kept about 50 meetings in areas such as Crabwood Creek, Black Bush Polder and East Bank Berbice. This exercise, he said, has proven to be very effective and residents are pleased that they are given an opportunity to highlight their problems.
Apart from visiting the communities Mustapha disclosed that the region has started a new approach in signing contracts in the areas where projects would be executed.
Residents are also signing as witnesses to these contracts and are receiving the bills of quantities on the spot. Further, he said, technical officers are present to explain the procedure of the contracts.
This way, residents would be able to oversee the work in the absence of regional officials, thereby ensuring that it is done according to specifications. They would also be able to report any discrepancies on the part of the contractors. “Many times residents would complain that developmental works in their areas are not done up to standard so we feel they should be involved since they would be the benefactors,” he said.
With regards to the community meetings, he explained, “I found that some of the issues which took a long time to resolve are now dealt with on the spot. The visits involve more interaction with residents and they are satisfied,” he said. According to him he tries to meet with residents of at least two or three communities every afternoon and has dedicated Wednesdays to conduct visits in all four polders in Black Bush.
Describing Black Bush Polder as a “problematic area for the region over the years,” the chairman said most of the region’s budget was spent there and he is happy that the problems no longer exist.
Through the outreach, Mustapha was able to accomplish excavation of drainage canals and minor repairs to streets. He has also been solving problems with water and electricity.
He stated that excavators would also be deployed shortly to start drainage works at Mara, Plegt Anker, Light-town and Providence.
When the chairman is not busy conducting outreach visits he accommodates residents in his office to air their grievances on various issues. This task is not new to him though, as he has been doing so in his capacity as a Member of Parliament, a position he served in for four years.
So far the region has spent over 97% of its budget on current and capital projects including three “roll over” projects from 2005 – the renovation of the road at the Adelphi Housing Scheme, the construction of an audiology centre at the New Amsterdam Hospital and the extension of the Plegt Anker Primary School.
According to the chairman, he seeks to deal with the problems promptly to avoid them piling up and causing a backlog that would make his work difficult.
