GECOM opens new $50M offices in Berbice

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Friday commissioned two new offices in Corriverton and Whim, Berbice.
The office at Corriverton was constructed at a cost of $27 million, while the one at Whim cost $24 million.
The Corriverton office will be catering for some 19,000 voters. Additionally, the Whim office will cater for some 27,000 voters— stretching from Number 51 Village to Kilcoy— and covers 10 Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) areas.
Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield explained the establishment of new offices is one of the mandates given to GECOM.
“Wherever we are located, it is incumbent on our officers who will be working in those respective areas to be afforded very comfortable working areas. We can deal with all of the persons needed to be treated with in their respective locations,” Lowenfield said at the commissioning.
GECOM, he added, should have their own land and buildings in order to function efficiently.
“So that at no point in time, anyone will have to remove us from where we are located. In the current context of our social environment, it is even more impactful that we own buildings where we discharged the mandate or vision of GECOM”.
Meanwhile, newly-elected GECOM Chairperson Retired Justice Claudette Singh explained the Act of 2005, which paved the way for local registration offices.
“By way of an amendment to the National Registration Act, it paved the way for the establishment of one or more registration offices in each registration district, such as this office here,” the Chair said.
She called on residents to make full use of the office and called on staff to listen to the needs of the communities. However, the GECOM Chair warned that whatever is done, must be done in accordance with the law.
“I want to tell you that this is an offence if you refuse to register. The law says that you will be fined. The penalty is a fine and imprisonment. So, I just want that to be clear. When you register, you will receive your ID card that’s for business; so they are all the benefits, but the law says you should register and allowed to vote,” the GECOM Chair added.