PEOPLE’S Progressive Party Councillors at the Woodlands/Bel Air Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in West Coast Berbice on Tuesday walked out of a meeting held to elect the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the NDC.This was one of the NDCs which have an equal number of seats allocated to both the APNU+AFC and the PPP. The walkout occurred after Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan, in keeping with the legal provisions, appointed APNU+AFC Councillor Carol Nurse as Chairperson.

The minister’s intervention led to two of the PPP/C councillors immediately leaving the meeting. Then PPP/C observers Harry Gill, MP, and Faizal Jaffarally prompted the other two, as well as the Regional Chairman Vickchand Ramphal, who was there as an observer, to walk out. In the absence of the four PPP/C councillors, the APNU+AFC Councillors elected Winston Vyphius as Vice-Chairman.

In the LGE held in 1994, the PPP had commanded the majority of the seats in the Woodlands/Bel Air NDC.

Meanwhile, the minister was again forced to intervene in a tie for the Chairmanship of the Woodlands/Farm NDC in Mahaicony. It comprises sixteen councillors. He appointed APNU+AFC Candidate Gersham Clarke as Chairman. The PPP councillors did not walk out though. There was then a tie in votes for the vice-chairman, and this tie remained unresolved up to late yesterday afternoon. The PPP/C had won the majority of the seats at the LGE at Woodlands/Farm NDC in 1994. In LGE 2016 results announced recently, of the ten NDCs in Region 5, the PPP/C won four and the APNU+AFC won four with ties in the remaining two.

Despite boycotting the elections for chairman and vice-chairman at Woodlands/Bel Air, The PPP/C councillors can still retain their seats on the Council.