Bartica will today celebrate National Tree Planting Day by hosting a Green Walk and distributing 300 fruit trees to residents, Mayor of Bartica Gifford Marshall has said.
Under the theme ‘Sustaining Biodiversity: Plant a Tree,’ Marshall said the municipality will use the day to keep on the path of making Bartica a green town.
“As we are all aware, under the leadership of His Excellency President David Granger, Guyana is transitioning into becoming a model green economy. The President has also indicated that Bartica would be at the cutting edge of these transformation efforts by becoming the first model green town in Guyana and the Caribbean. This transformation into a green economy will bring numerous social, economic, and environmental benefits to the residents of Bartica, our region, and Guyana as a whole,” he said, while pointing out that the day is most significant to the town, which he dubbed the “guardian of the green economy” because the municipality is committed to ensuring that the green economy that was outlined by Granger on the first tree planting day in October 2015 is upheld.
He pointed out that the stages that the municipality will be addressing are: sustainable exploitation of the natural resources, environmental protection, promoting sustainable energy, promoting the sound ecological services and exploring green technology.
Because of the steps it is currently taking, he said, Bartica becoming the cleanest and greenest town in the country is now within their grasp.
“The establishment of a municipal solid waste department and the continued transformation of the Byderabo dumpsite is testimony to our commitment of a cleaner greener Bartica,” he said. Marshall recalled that on October 3, 2015, President Granger, in his presentation to mark the event, had said, ‘I want to see tree-lined avenues. I want to see fountains. I want to see parks. I want to see gardens. I want to see a zoo, all that in Bartica.’
Today, one year later, Bartica will soon commission a park featuring a three-tier fountain, a beautiful garden, kissing bridges, benabs and most importantly it will be part of a park powered by solar energy.
He said that under the leadership of Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan, Bartica now has a Local Economic Development (LED) Strategic Plan for the next three to five years. He said that the short to medium term LED Strategic Plan is fully integrated with Bartica’s green township plan, which carries a 15 to 20-year implementation period.
These two plans, when implemented, are expected to transition Bartica into using fully renewable energy, sustainable organic agriculture development, and establish Bartica as an information and communications technology centre of excellence, among other revolutionary changes.
He explained that while these large-scale changes are taking place at the community level, there are still important steps that can be taken at the individual an organizational level towards accomplishing these overall goals.
“It is in this context that the seemingly simple exercise of planting individual trees can take on such a profound meaning because as we all do these simple, individual acts, the cumulative effects of these will impact the aesthetics, appearance, and attractiveness of our community,” Marshall added, while stating that the combined efforts of many residents doing their individual parts should not be underestimated. “If we all continue to do our individual parts to the best of our ability, together our efforts can be multiplied.
We can achieve greatness for this town that we all call home,” he said.
