-reiterates that the party’s plans are to advance development

“Total rubbish, absolute rubbish,” was President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s response on Monday to claims made earlier that morning by Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) would raise taxes in the capital city if they win majority votes in the municipality.

‘Our plans for Georgetown and any other area in this country is to advance development, advance the welfare of people, improve lives, improve communities and to strengthen local leadership,” the President affirmed.

President Ali responded to the claims moments after casting his own ballot in this year’s Local Government Elections (LGE). Dr. Ali together with his wife, First Lady Arya Ali, cast their ballot at approximately 8.30AM this morning at a polling station set up at the Leonora Technical and Vocational Training Centre on the West Coast Demerara.

President Ali described his experience of casting his ballot in this year’s LGE as a perfect, effortless one, and he offered encouraging words and appealed to voters to ensure they get out and exercise their franchise in this year’s Local Government Elections.

“I thought it was very professional, very smooth and very efficient,” President Ali said

“I am exercising my right and I want to encourage everyone to do the same. I want to encourage persons to come out, local governance is important, and everyone should get involved and participate in the process.”

According to Dr. Ali, Georgetown stands to only gain from a Council where his party has a majority of seats, since many a roadblock that currently exists in developing the capital city could be ironed out.

The President laid blame for the state of the city on Norton’s party, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which is led by People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).

The PNCR and its affiliates have been holding majority seats at the 30 seat Georgetown Council for over 50 years, and during that time the city and much of its infrastructure has seen severe deterioration, while the management has been plagued with incidents of mismanagement and lack of accountability.

However, with a new Council set to be installed after this year’s LGE, there has been renewed hope among citizens in the capital city that the new council could bring improvement. The PPPC is hopeful of gaining an increased presence at the horseshoe table.

“In many areas in Georgetown, the non-cooperation of the council and the partisan way in which city council operated has stymied development for years. Last night I was walking through Albouystown, and it was amazing to see the response. And what are they responding to? People were responding to a government that reacted to their welfare, to their development, their community, and that is what people want. And that is what we want to deliver.” Dr. Ali remarked.

The President reassured both the candidates of the PPPC and the residents that they have nothing to be worried about under a PPPC led municipality.

The President also called out Norton for disparaging candidates of the PPPC, many of whom are crossover candidates who once served under APNU but left after feeling disenchanted.

“If you can lower the value of persons who once served you to the extent of what they [APNU] are doing I find difficulty with that. We are very convinced that our strategy of governing is in the welfare of people. We are assuring the people of Georgetown and all over the country that they don’t have to be fearful about anything. They don’t have to worry about anything because the PPPC is not about taking over communities or raising taxes. We have removed taxes since we came back into government. We are working for their development.

“If you look at all the people who are candidates, look at Georgetown and all the other areas, what do you see? You see a reflection of Guyana, you see experience, you see a number of young people. And it is very disrespectful to speak the way the opposition leader speaks about these young persons, many of whom supported the opposition in 2015,” Dr Ali said.

The President called on persons to understand the gravity of what the LGE means and expressed his hope that citizens take it seriously and turn out in their numbers.

“Every Local Government Elections there’s always that issue of hesitancy in turn out because people wrongfully do not apply the same level of urgency or the same level of seriousness to Local Government Elections, but as we have said throughout the campaign these elections are very important. They are important for the democracy system, important for the retooling of leadership, they are important for the development of communities, for the synergy with central government and local government,” the Head of State said.