The 46-year-old mining town of Linden has embraced a new municipal council that has been working diligently with the central and regional governments to fulfill its goal of transforming the bauxite mining hilly township into a modern developed city.The new municipal team has made great efforts in having the initial stages of this vision materialized. Among the various moves is that of pushing for the economy to be stimulated by various means. Linden has been labeled as the depressed and economically challenged town by many. This reasoning is given on the basis that the unemployment rate in the town is over 70%, there is very little investment; young people often migrate after completing high school as a result of the limited options for tertiary education, career opportunities and limited entertainment choices among other things.
According to Mayor of Linden, Carwyn Holland, this unfortunate truth will change as the Council has the support of the people and the government. The Mayor is appreciative that the Local Government Election has afforded him the opportunity to lead the council that will gear this rapid transformation of the town. “It will take some shaping . We have to change the way we do business. If we see development we have to change the way we do things. We were heading down a bleak, dark road, going in a wrong direction and I thank God he gave us victory so that we can change things and pull things the way it should be in Linden,” he stated.
The fulfillment of this vision he said calls for the three tiers of government – central, regional and local to work in tandem as this was lacking prior to Local Government Elections. The decisions on Linden, he said were made in Georgetown and most of those decisions were made to marginalize Linden and stifle the town from developing. The council is keeping pace with the regional Members of Parliament who will represent the needs of the people and the town in parliament.
Currently the council is looking for ways to generate funds to commence projects relevant to the city’s transformation. The council unfortunately is presently cash-strapped and indebted to many organizations, but this the Mayor said would not dampen their spirits in achieving their goals.
The closure of the toll booth saw the council losing close to $250M dollars and its re-establishment is one of the key components in the recovery drive. Other systems that will be implemented to generate funds is the securing of a greater share in the Wismar/Mackenzie bridge; implementation of computerized toll technology, which will allow for all out of town vehicles to pay when entering the town; increased rates and taxes for residents and market vendors; and the commencement of the composing and recycling of garbage as a means of garnering funds.
“We are looking to put Linden in the profit margin so we can start having money in our coffers, and not be broke all the time,” posited the Mayor.
In addition to these, the council is considering investing in bottled water to be sold locally and regionally. “Some of the water we see selling here, they come from out of Guyana. We have so much water in Guyana, we can start producing bottled water in Linden and that is one of the projects we’re working on that we can get youths employed through such a project and many others.”
When the council would have generated sufficient funds, the push for transformation will commence. Some of the developmental projects will see Linden becoming a city, the reviving of Wismar by means of agriculture, and the providing of affordable housing via housing schemes and condominiums. This was according to the Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valerie Patterson who also said attention would be paid to the general outlook of the town, inclusive of street lighting, public infrastructure such as roads, bridges and walk-ways, creating beautiful scenery and landscapes for tourism and most significantly the constructing of a municipal mall.
The municipal mall is one of the biggest dreams of the Mayor and the design for same has already commenced. “I’m talking about a couple stories of glass, the full works – nice restaurants and other buildings geared to support the local scene.
The aim of this mall is to persuade Lindeners to not journey to Georgetown to support businesses in the city, but to support their brothers and sisters and to entice persons from Georgetown and other regions to come to Linden.
Education
Education also plays a big role in the transformation of any town. On the agenda is the establishing of a section of the University of Guyana Campus in Linden, being cognizant that scores of students journey from Linden to Georgetown each day for classes. The council is also in discussion with a company to set up a massive computer store in Linden which will allow for training in Information Technology and the creation of jobs. Young people will also receive training in entrepreneurship as an option of becoming self-employed.
“I’ve already had talks with Caricom and Caricom will be doing some training on entrepreneurship to help these young people who are struggling in Linden. We’re already in the process of inviting investors to come. We’re looking for space right now for some of these investors.”
Despite the odds, the Mayor and council are working assiduously in having these goals fulfilled as Linden has been deprived of development for too long and has been branded as economically dead. The Mayor said that unity was needed to bring a change to Linden and most importantly, the mindset of the people has to change.
“It is a tall asking for us to get there but with the support of each and every one we can develop. We want our children to grow up in a developed town. We want our children to grow up in betterment and we want all residents to know and appreciate what a city looks like. We will move linden to the status of a super city,” the Mayor said.