212 roads have been completed under the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)-funded USD18.7 million Community Roads Improvement Programme (CRIP) in Guyana. This information was shared during a monitoring and evaluation forum to analyse findings of the mid-term evaluation of CRIP hosted by the Ministry of Housing and Water in collaboration with the Local Government on September 11, 2013. According to Guyana's Government Information Agency (GINA), the evaluation was undertaken by Consultant, Erica Rapier, who was contracted in 2011 to develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system for the programme. The project is being implemented by the Ministries of Housing and Water and Local Government and Regional Development. CRIP's Project Coordinator, Karen Roopchand explained that the Housing Ministry has added CRIP to its agenda to ensure that infrastructure in existing areas is on par with the new development. GINA noted that sustainability is a key consideration under the CRIP and one of its major components is the improvement of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) which are the institutions responsible for maintaining the infrastructure. GINA also revealed that NDC and RDC staff are trained under the CRIP in areas such as administration and finance, information technology, service delivery and governance, while ICT management systems have been delivered to all 12 NDCs. In addition, GINA noted that the buildings which house the staff at the NDCs have all been either rehabilitated or constructed where necessary. According to Rapier's findings, of the 218 roads, 212 have been completed as of April this year, or 97 per cent. Further, rehabilitation and Construction has been executed on 11 of the 12 identified buildings, and road maintenance training is 100 per cent completed. In total, CRIP will rehabilitate over 100 kilometres of roads in Regions Three, Four, and Six. This includes the rehabilitation of drains, culverts, and bridges and the provision of safety features such as signage, road markings and speed humps. Story adapted from: Stabroek News CAPTION: Participants at the monitoring and evaluation forum at Duke Lodge, Georgetown (GINA photo)