Minister Walrond leads assessment of Coldingen estate

─ to ensure job creation

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Hon. Oneidge Walrond on Wednesday visited the Coldingen Industrial Estate on the East Coast Demerara, as part of a wider plan by the Government to ensure economic activity and job creation are maintained.

Speaking to DPI, Minister Walrond said similar exercises will be carried out at other estates.

“We are going to be visiting each industrial estate and the idea is to come and see how the estate is being managed, to regularise the activities all with the interest of making sure that economic activity is maximised here on the estates in the interest of job creation,” she said.

Minister Walrond observed several issues during the visit, including concerns about unused and misused plots. She said that issue will be addressed to ensure the estate is properly regularised. The issue of violation of leases will also be dealt with legally.

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Hon. Oneidge Walrond engaging with a tenant of the Coldingen Industrial Estate

The Minister engaged with tenants of the estate, who expressed their willingness to cooperate to resolve challenges.

“We are really emphasising people’s satisfying conditions of their lease, saying that, there seem to be, everyone seems to be open to, they’re happy for the visit, for us to see the conditions in which they’re operating.”

Minister Walrond said the Ministry is addressing requests for larger plots to conduct their work and to increase their production.  She also said the Government will continue to push for job creation so that the manufacturing sectors could be revitalised. The initiative, she noted, is in keeping with the Government’s manifesto promises of creating 50,000 jobs over the next five years.