Mahdia will be commissioned as a town, despite challenges

(GINA) Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan, during a recent ministerial outreach, told the residents of Mahdia that their community will be commissioned as a township, despite the challenges that government faces.

Minister Bulkan explained that the Region Eight community has to be upgraded to a different level where “it no longer remains in its existing vacuum” but would create overwhelming benefits for the residents and community.

There was a delay due to the technical challenges involving the demarcation of constituencies within Mahdia which prevented the community from participating in the last local government elections. Minister Bulkan said that the government will be looking forward to correcting the issue.

Juan Hunter, a resident of Mahdia said that his community needs a development plan to be guided by, instead of spending monies for different issues that are not pushing the community’s development. Hunter noted that the residents also need to become the driving force for development.

The Minister of Communities applauded the resident’s suggestion and explained that he would like to empower residents to manage their affairs. He noted that there would no longer be a need for outsiders to implement plans in the community, therefore there is a need for capable persons to manage Mahdia’s business.

In 2016, the government created three new towns; Mabaruma in Region One, Bartica in Region Seven and Lethem in Region Nine. The creation of the new towns and NDCs are part of the administration’s policy and vision of fostering national development via regional and local empowerment, given central government’s stated commitment to a philosophy of decentralised governance.