– as ‘East Coasters’ vie for leadership roles in local gov’t

SEVERAL Voluntary Groups and Individuals are contesting for leadership roles in local government on the East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Those persons turned out on Nomination Day Friday at various Local Authority Areas (LAAs) and told the Guyana Chronicle about their plans for their communities, and why they decided to participate in this year’s elections.

At the Beterverwagting-Triumph LAA, 80-year-old Bruce Granville was present at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) building, nominating himself as an independent candidate to represent the Granville Park area.

Granville has a long history of community involvement, having represented the same area as Chairman in years past.

Telling of some of the many areas he intends to address, he said: “They need more lights on the streets because the road is dark, especially going out in the nights. The road is bad; the drainage is not up-to-date; they have a lot of grass and muck blocking the water from going and coming, but most of all, it’s the roads and the portion of the land that people need to have titled.”

Mr Granville believes that with his years of experience in the business, he will be the best candidate of choice, and his advice to his fellow citizens is: “Know who you’re voting for; the people or the person that can make it happen.”

Another individual contesting independently is Shon Adams, and he too spoke of his vision for his community.

He said that after organising clean-up efforts in his community and realising that very few residents know who their councillors or representatives are, he decided to take action.
“I decided that instead of complaining, to do something about it, hence my independent candidacy,” Adams said, adding:

“I’d like to see a cleaner community; I’d like to see our parapets cleaned, our alleyways cleaned.

“I want to see our streets paved, because the streets in our area are terrible. I want to see the area brighter; I want to see more streetlights.”

Adams also wishes to see more aid being provided to children attending school, and apprenticeship programmes for young people with qualifications but no jobs.
His message to young people is that LGEs matter.

NO VOTE, NO VOICE

“If you don’t vote, you don’t have a voice; young people have got to become a part of the process, because if you are a part of the process, you can become part of the solution,” he advised.

Representing the same Beterverwagting-Triumph area is the 8th of May Movement, whose leader, Rainsford Benfield explained that their organisation represents the slaves which bought the village on May 8.

This is the group’s second time contesting the LGEs, and this time around, it intends to focus primarily improving education and sports.

“We’ve already started some of these activities, and we plan to continue,” Benfield said, as the group’s Treasurer added:

“Education and sports go hand in hand, because the child might be slow with education but that child can work in sports and achieve a lot.”

Hoping to represent the Buxton/Foulis NDC as an individual candidate is Terone Joesph, who believes that enough is still not being done to create awareness among the youth on the importance of LGEs.

“I would like to see more young people take part in our community development, “ he said, “because we’re lacking that. I know that a lot of young people wanted to run for this election, but they’re not well educated on what is the process, so they refused to take part.”

He, however, said that even if he doesn’t succeed this time round, he will try again in the future, yet he is positive that he will receive the support he needs, being well known for his leadership role in the community.

Speaking to the issues he particularly wants to address, Joseph said: “Unemployment is very high. We’re trying to develop some programmes that will ease the burden of getting jobs.”

Joseph added that he is currently working to get community complex buildings up and running to facilitate this.

WELL-KNOWN

Meanwhile, well-known public figure Rajendra Bisessar is also contesting the same constituency, and he gave as his reason for wanting to get involved:
“I want to believe that the people in the area sometimes prefer independence as opposed to being supportive of political parties, and with an independent voice, I believe I can speak for myself on the principle and on the behalf of the people without being influenced or instructed by a political party.”

Some of the areas he will address include corruption, environmental matters and issues with housing.

Said he: “I’ve been doing that as adviser to the Minister of Human Services; adviser to the Ministry of Labour; and personal assistant to Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, so I’ve been in this for plenty years.

“I’ve been representing people almost all my life; I believe, especially at the level of Local Government Elections, this is one of the most important areas that affect your life directly, and so if you want to have your area looked after properly and proper representation, then you need to come out and support the candidate of your choice.”

Also, at the Industry/Plaisance LLA was a lone voluntary group, ‘For the People (FTP), which submitted its nomination documents too.