By Gabriella Chapman
A DAY after the announcement of the Local Government Elections in Bartica, with seven out of nine constituencies being won by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), and the other two by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), the Alliance For Change (AFC) has said “all is not lost”.

Deputy Mayor of the town Kamal Persaud, who was a proportional representation candidate for the AFC, said her party was well aware of the heavy support for the two major parties, but will still push on.
“We were a bit disappointed with the results as well as the turnout of people who voted. Based on our observations, the persons that came out to vote were mostly elderly persons; the young people hardly came out. However, all is not lost, although it may seem like we lost,” she said.

This was the first time the AFC contested independently at the LGEs, Kamal said, noting that most of their constituency representatives were new to LGEs.
She also said that the party is happy to have contested the elections separate from APNU.
“Throughout our campaign, our team stuck to our goal of targeting issues within our various communities. We are saddened by the remarks that are being thrown our way, but it is quite evident that we have run a clean race and we will continue to work,” she expressed.

From the tabulations, the AFC secured one seat on the new council that will soon be formed. This seat, Kamal said, will be used to work to advocate for betterment of Bartica.
Apart from representation on the council, she said the AFC remains committed to the community and the issues they promised will be targeted, will be targeted.

“We have already identified voluntary and charity work that we will execute as a group. Our commitment has only grown stronger and being a part of the system, I will do my part and put the people first,” she said.

Kamal also said that her team will be bringing help to the less fortunate. The first project started on Tuesday with the distribution of food hampers to families in the Byderabo area.
The team said their objective is to represent the interest of the people and even though they did not win, they will continue with their representation.

The AFC also congratulated the councillors and hope that the town will move towards continued development and the voices of the people will be heard.