The Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCCI) received a grant of US$ 28,000 from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to step up awareness on issues of underage sex and enhancement of the No. 63 Beach. At a simple ceremony at the chamber’s office in Corriverton on Wednesday, USAID Chief of Party Dickson Bailey and USAID Mission Director Carol Horning conducted the signing the presence of members of the chamber. In brief remarks, Horning lauded the “dynamic” Upper Corentyne Chamber for putting together the proposal on social issues affecting the community.
USAID Mission Director Carol Horning hands over the grant certificate to president of the UCCI Chamber Vishnu Doerga, while USAID Chief of Party Dickson Bailey looks on
Horning also applauded the vibrancy of the chamber and its bid to help address the two issues identified, as well as making representation to have the toll across the Berbice River Bridge reduced. She disclosed that two other agencies have recently benefitted from similar grants. The president of the chamber, Vishnu Doerga told this publication that most of the focus of the grant is geared at creating awareness on underage sexual activity in the township and changing the public’s attitude towards the No. 63 Beach, which is a major tourist destination.
“We have been having frequent reported cases of underage sex between students and students and adults within and out of the school… what we have understood from meeting with the police [is that] this is the most under reported crime… in many cases the victims do not want to testify, so the perpetrators go unpunished”, Doerga said. He added that the chamber decided that this trend must be stopped because workers come into the workplace with the scars and burdens of underage sexual activities.
He went on to say,”This causes a lot of indiscipline, teenage pregnancy; and it’s very difficult to employ people who have been through these traumas, been through the ills accompanying underage sexual activity… so we felt it necessary to take part in an education, awareness and prevention programme to reduce the rate at which this occurs. And young children need to know their rights, especially when it comes to the issue of sex and how their future could be affected.”
Beach clean up
The sore issue of massive littering and abuse of the No. 63 Beach would also be tackled by the chamber. Doerga stated the beach is a very rich inheritance which has to be preserved and a portion of the grant would go towards changing the way this venue is treated. “If we clean up the beach, we would continue to do so forever… a lot of work has been done and is being done on the beach, but we do feel that people need to start taking ownership of the beach… people need to start treating it as their heritage – as something that they’re going to leave for their children and future generations to come,” he said. He said tackling wanton garbage dumping requires a behavioural change, and the chamber intends to spend the money producing infomercials, billboards, brochures, no-littering signs and other initiatives to raise the consciousness about the beach.
“We are going to attempt to move towards behavioural change to make people take ownership… if we were in any other country, we dare not litter on any other country’s beach. Why do it on our own home?” The UCCCI is looking forward to complement the work being done by the beach’s management committee headed by Attorney Adrian Anamayah.
The chamber’s ambition is to transform Corriverton into a border town. Doerga stated that among the projects to that end is a massive clean- up campaign to be executed in collaboration with the Mayor and Town Council and regional administration scheduled for August 28.
