FOLLOWING a brief illness, Mr. Pooran Persaud of Devonshire Castle, Essequibo Coast, Region Two, a loyal, dedicated and longstanding member of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), passed away.

He died at a private hospital in the city on Thursday afternoon at approximately 16:00hrs, several hours after having reportedly undergone surgery at that facility.
Persaud had been a vibrant and outspoken councillor who had worked diligently for development of the Anna Regina Town. He had received the Medal of Service from the Government of Guyana for his sterling contribution to development of Guyana, and had served on the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) as a PPP/C councillor under the Chairmanship of former Region Two Chairman, Mr. Alli Baksh.
He had also served as Chairman and member of several subcommittees of the RDC, and had played a great role in development of the rice industry on the Essequibo Coast.
This late PPP/C stalwart was also a sports personality who had contributed immensely to development of sports on the Essequibo Coast. He had been a member of the Devonshire Castle Cricket Club, and had contributed to development and management of the Walton Hall Sports Ground and the Essequibo Cricket Board.
During his years of service to Guyana, Persaud had been employed as a Clerk II at the Regional Administrative Office in the seventies and eighties, and had also worked as a supervisor at the Sea Defence Department for several years, before serving as Vice President of the National Union of Public Service Employees (NUPSE).
At time of his death, Persaud had been based at the GECOM office at Anna Regina to look after the party’s interest in terms of the registration process for new voters. He had also been a Councillor on the Interim Management Committee of the Anna Regina Town Council, and had been serving as Chairman of the Works Committee and member of the Social Development Committee.
Persaud had also been serving as an executive member of the Devonshire Castle Land Co-op Society, and had been its recording secretary. He had been serving the PPP as a member of the District and Regional Committee in the Essequibo district, and had been Chairman of the Devonshire Castle PPP group.

(Rajendra Prabhulall in Essequibo)