Victoria Development Council ensures the well-being of all residents

THE Victoria Community Development Council (CDC) aims to look out for the interests of each member of the community, never ignoring any concern that residents may bring to it, or taking a partisan stance on the basis of politics or other factors that may affect fair treatment of all.

Chairman of the CDC Alex Dane Fraser formed the legally registered council in April 2021 with other founding members Melanie Norville, Kena Cort, Nikkita Josiah, Omiana Fraser-Kellman, Lennox George, Dwayne Barry, Nickiteha Smith-Bacchus and the late William Frank.
The intention was purely to promote community development and provide assistance to residents. Though initially starting with beautification works – digging drains and clearing trenches – residents brought up other issues that the council did not want to turn away.

“We all wanted a place that represented every person’s interest in the community,” Fraser told Pepperpot Magazine. Born and raised in the East Coast Demerara village (even literally), the 33-year-old has been involved in volunteering and community development across the country for over a decade.
Seeing the positive impacts of those efforts, he thought that his community did not have something like this. So he and the other council members held a meeting with residents, and it took off from there. The first thing was to conduct a survey to find out the residents’ issues.

One of the nicest projects that has been completed so far is erecting signs with the correct names of every street in Victoria.  “Many residents did not even know the correct names, so we partnered with the private sector and had the correct names listed across Victoria,” Fraser shared.
Other developments came in the agricultural sector. Fraser said that the farmers’ group that existed at the time only benefited a select few, so the CDC worked to change that and make government assistance and opportunities available to farmers across the board.

Victorians are also cognisant of their village’s rich cultural heritage and try to preserve it. In November 1839, 83 ex-slaves from five villages – Douchfour, Ann’s Grove, Hope, Paradise and Enmore – pooled money to buy Plantation Northbrook (now Victoria) for 30,000 guilders.
The first church, built in 1845 by William Wilberforce, was called the Wilberforce Congregational Church. The village also has a community centre, nursery and primary schools, which have all seen improvement along the way.

Residents can go to the CDC with any concern related to any sector in government and the body will take it from there and raise the matter with the relevant agency for a faster resolution. Entrepreneurs in the village also receive training and help. There is also an essay competition, kite distribution, and back-to-school drive, among other initiatives.
“We also donate trophies for persons graduating the primary school. We try to make sure that as long as an activity is being done in the area, we show that support,” Fraser said.
Very soon, the CDC will be starting an after school programme that it wanted to start since last year and whether school opens or not, the process will be started.

So far, Fraser said both the government and the private sector have been assisting the Victoria CDC with its work. “In 2022, due to the Christmas rains, we had a little flooding in the farmland and I raised this with ‘Minister Zulfi’, and within two days, we had the excavator come in to assist.”
Fraser explained that the CDC is a non-governmental organisation. “It is not political. If you are coming to the council to raise concerns or access service, we are asking for you not to bring political issues to us; only community development.”

He said every village should have a council like this to represent the residents, and make the community more prosperous and recognised.