ON a mission to empower youths and women of Linden, Samuel Sampson is contesting the Local Government Elections (LGEs) as a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) candidate in Half-mile Linden, Region 10.

Sampson, who currently serves as Chairman of the Community Development Council (CDC) for the community, hopes to push ongoing volunteer projects and training programmes further, once elected to serve on the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

“I already am the CDC chairman for my community, and I have already been carrying out some work with the help of the government. There are some works that we had done, you know, street lights, roads, employment for young people and so,” Sampson said in an exclusive interview.

With plans to roll out a door-to-door campaign, Sampson is confident that he will win the votes of his constituents.

“We cannot look at race anymore; we have to look at development, and if a party is coming for development, that is the party that you should be supporting.”

Sampson disclosed that in his plan to promote empowerment among youths and women he hopes to generate employment opportunities through collaboration with the central government and the private sector.

“There is [sic] a lot of shortages in Linden; the most important is employment …we want to see more industries, and businesses coming to Linden, so persons can be employed,” he said adding:

“I want to bring more investors into Linden, because once we get investors, people will get work and there is where development is based on.”

Some 26 women recently benefitted from a garment-making programme that was facilitated through Sampson.

Signs of changing times were evident on Nomination Day, which was held last month when scores of persons decked out in their red tee-shirts took to the streets of Linden to march alongside People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) representatives, who submitted their list of candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)’s office for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGEs).

Leading the PPP/C’s contingent was Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill, who said the PPP/C is optimistic that it will gain ground in the mining town, which has been historically dominated by the opposing party, the People’s National Congress PNC/A Partnership for National Unity (PNC/APNU).

“We said it very clearly, we are taking over Linden, New Amsterdam, Georgetown and Bartica, traditional strongholds of the PNC,” Minister Edghill had said.