ANDRIEA Marks, who currently serves as councillor for Constituency Six, Georgetown, has decided that she can do more as constituency representative and will be contesting in the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGEs).

Marks who has been PR constituency “rep’’ for the past two years, told the Guyana Chronicle: “I told myself that this go-around I should run as the constituency “rep,” so that I can sit down and interact with other officials to get things done in Sophia.” She will contest for this position under national party: A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).

She noted however that during her tenure in office, the council had made some strides, particularly in infrastructural development. These include the development of the ‘Black and White’ road in Sophia and four cross streets..

To this end, she conceded, “I know that a lot of residents would not be pleased with what we did as a council in the past two years, but what we assure them is that on the next go-around, we’ll try all our best to see what more we can achieve as a council.”

She explained that in her personal capacity, as a single councillor, she has always tried to put the constituency first. She gave the examples of the work done on the Lamaha Canal — for which she had oversight — and the instance when she used $5M garnered from the government to clean up the major drain from ‘C’ field to ‘D’ field, Sophia.

More than that, under the drainage project, she saw to it that young men in the village were hired instead of contracting a big company. “[The] young people were not getting work and I look at it as an opportunity [for them] to get some money to send their children to school.”

With the welfare of her people in her constituency at the heart of her every thought, she expressed much satisfaction that she was able to streamline many projects to foster their development. This includes establishing ties with the USA through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to get skills training. In fact, only last week it was agreed that 20 young people will pursue studies at the Government Technical Institute (GTI) in civil engineering, mechanics and computer training.

However, it does not stop there. The community — through Marks’ endeavours — has been able to harness a greenhouse through an initiative from First Lady Sandra Granger, whereby vegetables are cultivated and sold. There are also evening classes at the Sophia Community Centre.

With all this under her belt, Andriea noted that she is far from content. “I think in all what I do for the two years, I didn’t get to achieve what was expected,” she said starkly.

At the same time however, she assured, “I will try all my best to make sure that Sophia be on the map. I have a passion for my community and everybody knows that and that’s why I will go down fighting for that.”

With the elections just on the horizon on November 12, Marks stated: “I know everybody’s cries and everybody’s tears; I have feelings for each and every one and I will try my best as a councillor to go there.”