LINDEN’S newly elected Mayor Carwyn Holland who took charge of the council less than two weeks ago, has boasted about the overwhelming progress achieved by his team of councillors during this short stint. One of the greatest achievements is having the Kara Kara toll booth returned to Linden. He revealed that the toll booth would commence operations in a matter of weeks and he was in receipt of a document from the Ministry of Legal Affairs which stipulates that the booth will return to Linden.
Currently, the two entities are in discussion on having the rates changed, since the current amount has been deemed as unfair for small businesses and their development. The Mayor said that the rates needed to be changed for many reasons including the push for entrepreneurship in the town. The Mayor is grateful for the cooperation of Minister Basil Williams in having this primary source of earning revenue returned to the people of Linden and former IMC Chairman Mr. Orin Gordon for guiding the team through the process.
Another achievement of the council which occurred within two days of taking office was the negotiations for the yearly subvention from the government to be increased from $11M to $15M. The mayor said that even though the increase was appreciated, the council would continue to fight for more. The Council has also received assistance from Bosai Minerals Inc to repair all of its machines and trucks that were stationary. This will allow for two garbage trucks instead of one to provide a reliable disposal service to residents.
Another one-week accomplishment is the instituting of seven committees to the council, namely; Environmental Health, Administration and Legal Affairs, Market and Parks, Works and Buildings, Social Development, Agriculture and Communications.
Deputy Mayor Waneka Arrindel revealed that other parties and groups who contested the LGEs were invited to join these committees as they all had a common goal of developing Linden. “Yes, we know we have the ability in the APNU+AFC, but we want to have a wide scope as it relates to information all across Linden, so that every person can have an input. We are happy to say we are working along with those persons, so that Linden will be able to advance and advance as quickly in a way we would want it to go,” she said.
Mayor Holland during his one-week tenure has started to revamp the management structure of the municipality, so as to empower especially the junior staff and to have their salaries increased, since many of them work for as little as $33,000. “We have started with the internal, if we have to fix outside then we have to fix inside here. We would have set a motion that no one is to be called garbage men and it must start with us.”
The Mayor said that they were all servants of the people and he saw himself only as a chief servant.
Though the new council has inherited close to $200M in debt, the councillors are adamant on not allowing this to dampen progress. “The group of councillors is working to erase those things that are really holding back development within this town.”
The Mayor, and by extension, the councillors, have a goal to transform Linden from township status to city status and to do so they will be collaborating with the RDC and central Government. “We want to work closely with the RDC and central Government and build a close relationship with our Members of Parliament who have to go to Parliament and represent our interest,” posited Holland. He is confident that with the support from the President and his administration, Linden will see betterment.