Four Livelihoods Projects funded by French Govt. commissioned in Moruca Sub-Region

Feb 26, 2023 News

---

Kaieteur News – The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) and the communities of Warapoka, Kwebana and Santa Rosa earlier this week commissioned four projects in the Moruca Sub-Region aimed at further improving the lives of Indigenous peoples in Guyana.

The projects which were funded by the Government of France under the Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects (SFIP) are a 480ft bridge leading to farmlands and harpy eagle nesting sites and, a solar drier which were commissioned on Sunday at Warapoka and Kwebana, respectively. Additionally, a biking tour and canoeing experience were launched in Santa Rosa Village on Monday.

According to a release from the APA, the villages identified the projects and submitted proposals to them for funding under the SFIP grant’s livelihoods component. The SFIP grant encompassed four components advocacy, capacity building with District Councils, protection of the environment, and livelihoods.

During his address at the various commissioning ceremonies, Honorary Consul of the French Republic to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Jean-Francois Gerin expressed the French Government’s pleasure in supporting such projects. He noted that they will continue collaborating with organisations to execute similar projects across the country.

Meanwhile, Resident Representative of the French Ambassador to Suriname and Guyana, Mr Pierre Gaté said that this is the first time that the French Government has collaborated to execute livelihood projects in Guyana. He noted that the projects are warranted since they were identified by the communities themselves.

He urged the communities and leaders to use the projects as a foundation to build upon so that their lives can be improved as well.

“We are very glad to take part in these projects and as our first cooperation project in Guyana, I think we picked the best operator we could have, and I think the project has been a success…There are several components of the project and this one (livelihoods) being component four and I really like this component because I really like the concept of sustaining the development of new livelihoods because this is clearly something long-term, something sustainable and something that can benefit the communities after,” Mr. Gaté mentioned.

Executive Director of the APA, Jean La Rose said that it is the first time that the organisation is doing livelihood projects and is pleased with the response from both the donors and beneficiaries.

She noted that the communities have been asking for livelihood projects and when the APA was approached by the French Government informing of the availability of funds, the opportunity was taken to facilitate those requests. As part of the project, teams from the villages were trained in proposal writing, project management and budgeting.

In her remarks too La Rose also challenged the villages to build on their projects noting that the APA will continue providing technical assistance to facilitate the development of ideas. She said that the communities can now collaborate with the schools and other areas to further expand the projects for maximum benefits.

As for the projects, in Warapoka, a 480ft. bridge was built at Troolie Hill to the tune of $4.09 million. That bridge connects residents to their farmlands as well as tourists to the harpy eagle nesting site. There are 13 families farming in the Troolie Hill area and they accessed their farms by crossing on logs placed over the swampy area at the source of the Warapoka Creek.

The community designed and constructed the bridge with materials sourced from their lands.

In Kwebana Village, the Kwebana Arapah Flour Enterprise proposed the procurement and installation of a solar drier as its livelihood project. The $5.57 million solar drier will be used to dry cassava and process it into flour.

As for Santa Rosa, two projects were launched in a biking tour at Kumaka and a canoeing experience at Lower Cabrora Creek.

The biking tour saw the acquisition of 16 bikes and safety gear as well as a boat house to the tune of $3.66 million. A sum of $2.45 million was spent on the construction of a boat shed and the procurement of 8 dugout canoes.

Santa Rosa’s Councillor Maurice Torres, who had oversight of the project said that a lot of options were explored to market Santa Rosa as a tourist destination. He noted that biking and canoeing were selected because of the health benefits and the uniqueness of the experiences.

Guyana Tourism Authority’s Senior Product Development Officer Clyde Edwards said that the projects now put the Moruca Sub-Region in a better place to be marketed as a tourist destination. He said that the GTA is assessing the potential of a tourism circuit in the Moruca Sub-Region to offer different packages to persons visiting Guyana.

---

• Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), Livelihoods, Moruca, Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects (SFIP), Warapoka

---