EON Warde and Emile Wilson, two village men of Region Five, have recently won in their respective constituencies at the recent Local Government Elections, and are ready to work in the best interests of their respective communities.

Warde was able to seize Constituency Four—Paradise– in the Profit/Rising Sun Local Authority Area (LAA) after what he described as a grassroots approach to garnering votes.

“I touched every house [in his constituency] during campaigning. I spoke to parents and children and every day I’m interacting with people and having conversations,” Warde shared.

As the man with the most votes, he shared that he believes he will now use his position to ‘make things right’ in his constituency and by extension, the region.

According to him, many persons are dissatisfied with some of the elected representatives in the region. He, however, posited that all parties must work together.

“The interest is of [sic] the people, not the council. We have to cooperate to better people’s lives,” he said.

Warde, a self-employed farmer, said he has a vision to transform the community he holds dear to his heart. Among these include developing the mud dams and focussing on improving the streets, drainage, and irrigation.

“I will [also] work to alleviate poverty in the community,” he shared, adding that “Going green” will be his aim.

The farmer will also take aim at problems affecting young people, particularly the issues of alcohol, school dropout and drug abuse. In this regard, Warde said he will tap into the religious groups in the area to help push his cause.

Meanwhile, in Constituency Five (Golden Fleece), another village man, Emile Wilson, returned as the elected representative through the First Past the Post component of the elections.

At the LGEs held in 2016, he was elected as chairman of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council. This time around, he shared that he had no intentions of running again, but did so at the behest of persons in his community who wanted him to lead again.

During his time as chairman, he said it was challenging because he could only work to develop the community with the resources he had to contend with. Nevertheless, he highlighted that many strides were made.

Developing all-weather roads, improving the drainage systems and cleaning the canals were just some of the improvements made in Golden Fleece.

“Actually, I have done so many things that the people wanted me to carry on [for another term],” the man said.

According to Wilson, he is approachable “day and night” and attributes these qualities to his popularity in the region.

Though he is ready to continue his work in the area, he bemoaned the fact that many persons are yet to understand the significance of LGEs.

“There are a lot of misconceptions [but] I’m hoping that people are educated to understand that you select the people who you feel can represent you at all times in your community,” Wilson noted.