Dexter Harding (extreme right) and members of the new CDC
Following the hosting of community elections last Friday, new members have been elected to serve on the Coomacka Community Development Council (CDC) in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
Re-elected as Chairman was Councillor Dexter Harding, while Carolyn Ettiene was elected Vice-Chairman. Harding won against his opponent Wendy Wagner, 78 votes to 38.
Other members of the Council now include Secretary, Bernadette Torres; Treasurer, Verna Wilson-Thom; Secretary/Treasurer, Donna Thom, while Committee Members include Odessa Jones-Adams, Oswald Charles, Kenrick DeClou and Kurt Lewis. The election was officiated by Community Development Officer and Councillor Denise Belgrave.
Speaking with this publication on Monday, the newly re-elected Chairman of the CDC outlined some of the plans of the Committee in moving the community forward. Some of the top priorities on the agenda is working to eradicate land and political issues.
“NICIL [National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited] officials are working to regularise lands in the area, but…they had side-stepped the previous CDC and worked with a political activist on the ground and it had caused confusion, where residents were not pleased with the way it was carried out. So, I’ll be working to see that folks in the community are pleased with NICIL. I’m asking also that the President and relevant officials see that transparency be carried out in the community so that we’ll not further fracture the community politically, because we have a political fracture whereby we have a division in the community. I’ll be working on this to ensure that as a people we have unity to move forward so that the next generation would not be in the situation that we are in,” Harding noted.
He added that the new CDC will meet today to propose the completion of a community hub and kitchen, a poultry pen, which will house 100 meat birds, and a permanent place to house a forestry, hub and CDC offices.
“So we’ll be working on these projects to have them completed…we’ll also be talking about the 20 persons to join the HEYS [Hinterland Employment and Youth Service] programme and we have to put together a list for the drainage project, also for those who will be cooking on the feeding programme for the primary and nursery schools. These are things we will ensure we put in place in the first quarter”, Harding further outlined. He noted too that the lighting and fencing of the community ballfield and other projects are also on the agenda.
Harding said he was happy and excited to continue to work within the community. With this being his third time being elected to serve in the capacity, he said he does not think he will be running for a fourth term. He noted, however, that he will be working over the next two years to accomplish the goals set out by the CDC.
