Linden’s Mayor-elect has eyes set on children, seniors

By Utamu Bell

Linden’s 10th Mayor, Waneka Arrindell, and Deputy Mayor Wainewright Bethune are set to be sworn in on Wednesday, March 28.
Arrindell, who served two terms as Deputy Mayor, will replace outgoing Mayor Carwyn Holland, who also served for two terms. She will also be the community’s third female Mayor.

In highlighting some of her plans to move the community forward, Arrindell recently outlined what would be her main focus.
“While the Council continues to focus on all the necessary things that must be done in our town, as Mayor, I have my eyes right where I had it when I began – on our children and a new interest in our senior citizens. Outgoing Mayor Mr Carwyn Holland would have made significant strides in the area of understanding the importance of empowering our next generation to lead,” Arrindell noted.
Her signature project, the first in the country, is to create a Junior Mayor programme. This will be done within secondary schools with the main aim of having continuity in leadership at the local level. The project, she said, was birthed out of the struggles the Council faced following Local Government Elections, coming into office without any prior training. The second phase entails sessions in primary schools at the Grade Six level, as an introduction to local governance.
Arrindell also noted her interest in creating literacy hubs all across Linden and to see a literacy school developed, to work with slow learners. This, she noted, will make it easier for them to cope with the upper-level schools and attain an education.
“While I just want to start with literacy hubs, I hope to see a school for remedial work where children who are unable to cope will be able to come into a setting, develop, and then be placed in the system,” she outlined.
Arrindell said that along with working with all the Councillors, she has chosen her area of charity work for this year, as work continued on the youth drive that Holland started.
“Each child must be able to read and write according to their age specification, for an educated population is a population that will survive,” she said. “We also will focus on our senior citizens, creating environments that can aid in making their lives easier. I was reminded the other day that one of our Councillors would have stated that her desire is to have a bus to transport our seniors to pick up their pensions. Those are all creative ideas and needs that must be addressed. Senior citizen homes need to be renovated and built. Activities for our seniors must be forthcoming and we will promote this in our community,” Arrindell said. Another focus, she said, is to make sure that the public is fully informed of all works of the Council.
“The works of the Council are all public information. All works must be transparent and so the door of the Council is open to all residents of the township of Linden who pay their rates and taxes. You are allowed to come in to find out and to be informed. Of course, this must be done in an organised manner,” Arrindell stated, as she stressed that the dissemination of information was also top priority.
She said a day would be set aside (either weekly or monthly) according to her availability and that of the Council.
Arrindell, who is a married mother of three, is the holder of a certificate in Theology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography. She was Secretary and President of the Section Youth Ministry for Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and a former journalist and teacher. She has also worked with the Linden Care Foundation and National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD).