AS INTERNAL elections for municipalities continue around the country, the mayor and deputy mayor of Lethem, Carlton Beckles and Maxine Welch respectively, have been unanimously re-elected to their positions in elections held on Thursday, December 1, 2016 at the Lethem Town Hall.Town Clerk Keisha Vincent said voting commenced at 09:30 hrs and was completed by 10:30 hrs. After the voting, a fitting tribute was held in the Mayor’s honour: in observance of his birthday, which coincided with the elections.

Over at Corriverton, former deputy mayor Krishnand Jaichand defeated incumbent mayor Ganesh Gangadin by a 9/6 voter ratio; while Councillor Jamna Ghamandi was elected as his deputy.
During brief remarks, Jaichand said he felt proud of the people of Corriverton for voting in his favour.
He believes that the outcome of the process was clearly the “will of the people”, and expressed satisfaction that democracy prevailed.

Jaichand said emphasis would be placed on creating and maintaining a clean environment, and he intends to improve the market facilities in the town in order to improve its revenue-generating capacity.

He also anticipates a closer relationship between councillors and their constituencies, and he disclosed that house-to-house visits would soon be an added feature.

“My hope is to have them go out and listen to people’s problems, and bring (those problems) to the Council. We will be doing an inventory throughout the town of the needs of residents,” the Mayor-elect stated.

Jaichand said that residents can also look forward to having an audience with the mayor at least twice per week, and being able to air their grievances on a daily basis in the presence of a councillor.

He also revealed that Council can soon expect its own website and Facebook page.

Elections at Corriverton were initially held on November 24, but ended in a tie between Gangadin and Jaichand.

So far, three of the nine municipalities have already concluded elections.

Internal elections at the municipality of Anna Regina were held on November 29, with Mayor Rabindranauth Mohan and Deputy Mayor Darshan Persaud being re-elected to their substantive positions.

The Rose Hall Town municipality is expected to hold its internal elections on Wednesday, December 7; with Linden following on Thursday, December 8.

The municipalities of New Amsterdam and Mabaruma have scheduled elections for December 14, while Bartica Mayor and Town Council have announced elections for December 15.

All elections are expected to be completed by December 16, 2016, as stipulated by law.