Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan will today announce the date for Local Government Elections (LGE), which was last held here over two decades ago. The announcement is slated to take place during a specially arranged news conference billed for the minister’s Kingston, Georgetown office. Bulkan had indicated earlier that LGE will be held within the first quarter of 2016. At the time, he underscored that the political will was missing to implement LGE, noting that “this administration is committed to move forward in a different direction and in this regard, the ministry is actively engaged and is part of the process of building capacity of the councils and to provide institutional strength and to equip and empower them and ensure their revenue base is sufficient to allow for their financial independence and their general economy in the management of their affairs.”
Bulkan had said that the LGE will result in new councils with new energy, new enthusiasm and with the zeal arising from the confidence that would be placed in them by citizens. He also disclosed that orders have been given to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to provide the earliest date which will be announced in the new week. The Communities Minister explained that “…. two Orders are to identify the participating Local Democratic Organs which are now allowed for nine municipalities and 62 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) as well as the composition of the councils and a separate Order identifying the boundaries of the respective democratic organs.” He continued: “It now paves the way for administrative necessity for which there is a third order naming the date of the elections. In that regard, I am awaiting a definitive response from GECOM to be told what is the earliest date by which those elections could be held, given the fact that these administrative requirements are all in place, but I believe in the new week a date can be named.”
He had explained that local government is a vital level of public administration, because it deals with people’s daily lives in their communities. Citizens from local communities depend on their locally elected representatives to ensure towns, municipalities and villages are effectively managed to ensure clean environments, street lights, maintenance of roads, streets, drainage canals and playgrounds. These attributes will contribute to a “Good Life” for residents. Bulkan had emphasised that Guyanese citizens have been waiting for too long to elect new councillors to the municipalities and NDCs. Elections are important because they are a democratic and constitutional right. Since Bulkan’s comments, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had confirmed that the secretariat is in full operational mode for the conduct of Local Government Elections.