…target teenage pregnancy, sanitation, roads, water security for improvements

By Rabindra Rooplall in Mahdia
NEWLY elected A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) councillors in Mahdia are aiming to ensure that their constituencies and supporters benefit from pledges made during the campaign at the just-concluded Local Government Elections (LGEs).

Dennis Boalt, representing Constituency One (Uewang to Mahdia Plateau West) told the Guyana Chronicle that a troubling issue that needs to be addressed in the region is the issue of teenage pregnancy. Boalt explained that teenage pregnancy changes a young lady’s life forever. Unfortunately, he said, such a change is seldom in a positive direction and that results in economic underdevelopment that may also lead to other social ills.

“Younger mothers and their babies face greater health risks. In the educational sphere we remain concerned about valuable learning time being lost, and the ever present threat that the new responsibilities of motherhood may mean someone giving up their own education for their child and that causes a negative cycle,” he noted.

As such, he said, as a representative of a constituency and a councillor, it is his aim to seek the intervention of all stakeholders, including proposals to have discussions in schools to educate teenagers on the dangers of becoming young mothers. “Teenagers may agree to engage in early sexual encounters because they fear losing the relationship, they may not be able to negotiate the use of contraception and in some instances they are the victims of rape. We know that girls without loving families of their own, are more vulnerable to early sexual encounters,” he noted.

He said there is a need to address the many contributory factors related to the incidence of teenage pregnancy: the fact that in many communities girls are brought up to be submissive to their male counterparts means they are often vulnerable in teenage relationships.

“I am open to all assistance and would be calling on the minister of education and all stakeholders to also offer assistance in this area, because our human capital needs development before anything can be done properly,” Boalt noted.

Representing Constituency Number Two (Mahdia Plateau East), David Samuel Adams said he is grateful for the opportunity presented by President David Granger to become a local leader, and as such, the APNU group will be mobilising themselves with the citizens of Mahdia to decide on a path to propel and develop the region in a manner to benefit all citizens.

“We live here and we understand the needs, and we are now in a position of township where those needs will be represented to Central Government, since that support will be needed to pave the way forward to a greater Mahdia,” Adams said.
He said that due to the newness of the town, councillors will be in an infant stage. According to him, there will be meetings in the weeks ahead, where a policy of development for the short and long term development of Mahdia will be prioritised.

He noted that some of the sore points in the region are garbage disposal, sanitation and water security, and those issues will be addressed as early as possible.
“We will also be looking for locals to be employed and given opportunities, we will be having a victory rally on Thursday, thanking our supporters and indicating to them that the pledges we made during our campaign will be implemented,” he said.

Juewayne Mendonca- Barrows, representing Constituency Three (Potaro Road to Eagle Mountain), said during the campaign she had interacted with the community and got an understanding of the type of development they would like to see become a reality, and now that she is a councillor she will pursue that agenda.

“Most of it was about roads, street lights, the upgrading of the airstrip with lighting, since most times when there is an emergency, residents would have to come out with their vehicle lights to assist, amongst other things,” she said.

She noting that there are youths in her constituency with great potential but that avenues are needed to develop and educate them. The APNU councillor said there are also many women with talent, and she is hoping to form groups to explore and develop programmes to empower girls and women to reach their full potential. “We need children to complete their schooling and to have their potential unlocked so they can have a better future,” she underscored.