Dear Editor,

THE Kaieteur News of Thursday, 3rd October, 2019 on Page 11, under the caption NDC Chairman being investigated. Paragraph five, “The NDC Chairman said that he indeed took the images off of the wall but never threw it on the ground. He said he placed the images that were framed on a cupboard and left his reason that his actions were premised on the fact that the government is unconstitutional and there is no need for the pictures to be there.

During my tenure as a councillor of the Region Two Regional Democratic Council (RDC.), I was also a member of the Works and Agriculture Committee, a statutory committee of the RDC. The monthly meetings of this committee used to be held in the Drainage and Irrigation building and in the Office of the Regional Vice-Chairman, Mr Vishnu Samaroo, who was also the chairman of that committee, and during my seven consecutive years as a member, Mr Vishnu Samaroo always had two former Presidents, Dr Cheddi Jagan and Janet Jagan’s photographs high on the wall in his office, although both of them were already dead. Myself and Mr Samaroo had and still have a good relationship, so I asked the question, where is Mr Hoyte and Mr Burnham and Mr Chung, but he would smile and never answered.

There are certainly times where you get the impression that some of these Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) are not working in the best interest of the people in the community and by extension of this coalition government; what they often do is to undermine all efforts pertaining to development, so as to make the administration look bad, instead of carrying out the works in a timely manner from government subventions and from rates and taxes received from taxpayers..

I can remember that a Local Government Minister of the PPP/C Government stating that he would be happy if an epidemic can break out in the city of Georgetown, so as to emphasise the incompetence of the Hamilton Green mayorship. Now think of the meaning of that statement and simultaneously that of the action of this NDC hairman. The Minister of Communities have got to be careful in dealing with those Chairmen of the NDCs whose mindset is the same or similar.

Regards
Archie Cordis
Former Region Two Councillor