by Ravin Singh
Team Legacy – a local community-based group contesting the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) is firmly maintaining that they are not intimidated by the larger political parties contesting the March 18 elections. The group, which is Chair by Youth Pastor Eworth Williams, formally launched its campaign yesterday, where four of its members weighed in on what the groups plans to bring to the citizens of their communities once they are elected to serve.
Michael Leonard, the candidate representing Team Legacy in constituency nine – Lodge/Meadowbrook Gardens outlined five pillars upon which they hope to strengthen communities. These according to him, are community investment, youth transformation, security (Partnering with GPF), environment and health and improved distribution and delivery of community services. He noted that the two most important of these are perhaps community investment and youth transformation which is geared towards refashioning the lives of youths in a positive way.
When quizzed on their plans for revenue generation given the perception that the City Council has not been utilizing all of its opportunities to do same, Saiku Andrews, another member of the group noted that ongoing citizen and community consultations are paramount in this process. Though he did not say specifically what measures would be employed to increase revenue collection, Andrews hinted at more enhanced discussions and investment in non-traditional commercial areas in Georgetown.
“Few investments are done outside of central Georgetown and so if we can get people to invest in businesses in other areas, then the communities could benefit directly, and indirectly for instance through training” he said.
Kelvin Bovell, another candidate of Team Legacy who will be running for constituency 11 – East La Penitence Riverview, also weighed in, offering that there exist talented youths within some of these communities who are highly skilled and could develop their art to not only benefit themselves but their communities as well. As such, he pointed to the fact that the motto for Team Legacy, which is “Forgotten Communities” seeks to tap into the hidden potentials within these communities.
But while the response from the public has been overwhelming for this group, Andrews noted that the masses of youth are ignorant as to what Local Government Election is and what it aims to do. As such, their campaign entails more than just convincing people to vote for them. If fact, they have assumed responsibility, pro bono, for educating the masses on what the process is and how influential a role it plays in their lives.
And given this fact, that Local Government deals directly with the day-to-day affairs of citizens, Andrews posited that seasoned politicians are not the ideal ones to be competing at this level since most of them are not au fait with what transpires at the community level.
“We don’t believe LGE was tailored for seasoned politicians. We are not focused on power-position and so most of the seasoned politicians have no clue of issues facing their communities… We are engrained and entrenched in the issues in our communities and that is what makes us experienced” the candidate said.
It was recognized too that all of the candidates of team Legacy are males. However, Andrews defended this, explaining that women were nominated to run as candidates but for one reason or the other, they all declined. And according to him, this does not limit the participation of women in the group. In fact, he revealed that some of the more experienced and educated persons are playing their role from behind the curtains, given their constraints and commitment.
The group, which according to the Chairman is a grassroots organization that has been in existence years before LGE was announced, is largely self-financed since most of the members are entrepreneurs. Not limited to self-financing though, Williams noted that donors who believe in the group’s cause have been extending their support in whatever way they can.
