By Telesha Persaud

The youngest City Councillor, Akeem Winslow Cennick Peter, has big dreams of turning Georgetown into a modern city, one that will become the awe of the Caribbean. Akeem has so many plans for the city that he feels a day will come when the current trend of Guyanese ‘running’ to other people’s shores will be reversed and others will hasten to come here instead. Akeem, 23, was born in Antigua and Barbuda to Guyanese parents John and Eartha. At three months old, however, he was brought to Guyana to live with his aunt Janice Phillips, whom he credits today for helping him become a disciplined and well-rounded individual.

“I feel both privileged and disadvantaged at the same time. I mean, you bring your youth, innovation, experience to the front, but you are also disadvantaged by the older persons. The experience that they bring outweighs your innovation at times and that’s something we have to work with and work towards changing so that young persons can have the opportunity to come into the system and create the change that we really want to see with a modern city.”

After attending Starter’s Nursery, Redeemer Primary, and St. Roses High, he went to the University of Guyana to study civil engineering and International Relations. “I always had an interest in engineering, roads, buildings, the ascetics of my immediate surroundings.”
Akeem feels that the conditions he was exposed to as a youth growing up in Sophia sparked his interest in engineering. He explains it this way: “As a child in North Sophia, you weren’t exposed to the whole developmental process. But over the years, I have seen the progress of a community moving from mud dams, drains, ‘London’ bridges, to a community that has begun to develop. We have roads now and the houses have changed somewhat.

“We also had to fetch water from the street pipe and before this, had to go way up in front to full. I fetched smaller buckets to fill the bigger ones. Plus, there were security issues. My aunt was always calling for me to come off the road early; there was always a stigma attached to Sophia.”

Today, Akeem said his experiences have taught him to be friendly and humble, especially to those individuals who are less fortunate.

What to Build
Akeem has always had an interest in the technical field, and has also found that he is interested in politics as well.

“Politics is linked to everything. You have the scope to influence development within your country from a political level. It starts with the politics. Politics determine which roads are built, which public spaces are fixed. It’s all political. Either we accept it or not. So, I have decided that instead of only wanting to build, I will fight to become a decision maker in what to build.”

The thought of becoming a City Councillor never occurred to Akeem. “Before my campaign started, I always watched the GECOM (elections body) ads on television, and I always said to myself that if I had the chance to run for local government elections, I would, because I was involved in community work before.”

Akeem had helped to form one of the biggest community groups in North Sophia and was able to accomplish much by means of it.

“North Sophia now has a play field out of that community group. It has always been a desire within me to help out in these ways, but I didn’t take the first step. It was my fiancé, Kerron, who encouraged me to run for the elections. I had to work hard and campaign but it gave me an opportunity to be a part of building my community,” Akeem expressed.

Privileged and Disadvantaged
Akeem feels privileged to be a member of the City Council, but he observed that when it comes to management of the city, many things have to be changed because a lot of it is archaic. He is also looking forward to working closely with the rest of city councillors.

“I feel both privileged and disadvantaged at the same time. I mean, you bring your youth, innovation, experience to the front, but you are also disadvantaged by the older persons. The experience that they bring outweighs your innovation at times and that’s something we have to work with and work towards changing so that young persons can have the opportunity to come into the system and create the change that we really want to see with a modern city.”

This is not to say, however, that Akeem allows himself to become intimidated by the strong personalities.

“One of the major challenges I will face will be helping persons to see the vision I see. I am going to see it through a young person’s eyes. We young people normally interpret things differently. But the thing is, we have all pledged to work together so it’s our responsibility to do that. So I may be able to teach you certain things while your experience and wisdom may do the same to me.”

Akeem wants to see further changes in his home village, and by extension, in the entire city. “One of my aims is to change the negative view that people have of Sophia. And I really desire to see Georgetown, not only clean, but modernized. It must be a modern city of the Caribbean. Persons must run to our shores, and we have to stop this thing of running to their shores.”

Along with his aunt, Akeem, the owner of AWCP Group of Companies, is also grateful to his grandmother Eugienie Skeete and his aunt’s daughter, Rhonda Phillips, who have all contributed to his life significantly. “They have really played that part of a family to me; the persons who have really contributed to my life.”