– says a lot can happen in Georgetown with cooperative City Council
General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has defended his party’s decision to welcome former Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase-Green into their camp, saying the PPP is open-minded and will not let one issue define how they relate to an individual.
Chase-Green, a former People’s National Congress/Reform (PNCR) member, was heading the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) back in 2017 when the controversial Parking Meter project was introduced. She had headed the City Hall team that went to Mexico in 2016 to sign the contract with Smart City Solutions Incorporated. That initiative, however, has been shelved after it sparked widespread civil protest action in the capital city.
With Guyana now facing a US$100 million claim from the Mexican company over halting the project, the appearance of the former Georgetown Mayor in the PPP camp earlier this week has raised eyebrows.
But the PPP General Secretary has defended the move to accept the former PNC member.
PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo with former Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase-Green (fourth from left), Malcom Ferreira and former APNU+AFC councillor Trichria Richards (far left) during Monday’s Nomination Day activities
“On the parking meter, yes Chase-Green was a central player but as I said before… if she is found culpable in any way whatsoever, she’d have to deal with the consequences. But we don’t let one issue define how we relate to people. And if we did that… we’d never basically have crossover,” he stated during a press conference at Freedom House on Thursday.
According to Jagdeo, he had considered Chase-Green’s connection with the controversial project before welcoming her to the ruling PPP/C.
“So, yes, Chase-Green may have this thing with the parking meter and I looked at it… but we’re a party that moves on. We believe that people have second chances… Our party is open-minded [and] a broad-mind party,” he stated.
The PPP General Secretary pointed out that members of other parties are willing to cross over and join the PPP since they see, as demonstrated by current PPP members, that they can work their way up to senior positions within the party even if they come from a different background.
“When we look at people who have come to the PPP, they’ve all made upward mobility in the party and in the government – we should’ve done this before… But that’s the conversation we want to encourage people to have,” Jagdeo posited.
On Monday last, contesting political parties and groups had to submit their list of candidates and backers to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in preparation for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) slated for June 12.
Chase-Green was among a number of prominent persons who joined forces with the ruling PPP for these elections and told reporters, on Nominations Day, that she has confidence in the PPP taking over the Georgetown municipality, which has been traditionally controlled by the PNC.
“We just submitted a winning list to Georgetown… we look forward to full progress, unity, peace, and togetherness. Development of the city. When we’ve come out victorious… we’ll deal with that plan. We already have a plan [to improve the city],” Chase-Green stated.
Also joining forces with the PPP for LGE is popular Albouystown entertainer Malcolm Ferreira also known as “Mr Wickedee”, who ran as an independent candidate in the 2018 LGE, and former APNU+AFC councillor at the M&CC, Trichria Richards.
According to Jagdeo during Thursday’s press conference, the party has been going out and engaging a number of persons from other political parties with the aim of convincing them to support the PPP.
In recent weeks, the PPP General Secretary had declared that the PPP is eyeing major municipalities around the country including Georgetown in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), New Amsterdam in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and Linden in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) – all of which are traditional strongholds of the PNC-led APNU Opposition.
Jagdeo said he is pleased that the party has been able to gather the support to contest in all of these APNU-controlled areas. “We’re trying to point out to people in the city and other areas how they would be better served if they have a council that is controlled by the PPP,” the GS posited.
Zoning in on the Georgetown municipality, Jagdeo contended that the biggest issue at the cash-strap City Hall is its lack of accountability and focus on development. He further outlined the many initiatives that the PPP-led Government has rolled out that would not only see the capital city getting a face-lift but also enhance the quality of lives of its people.
“A lot of things can happen in the city with support from the Central Government… Look at what we’ve started already, we’ve always had these ideas about changing the country but also the city… You can’t collaborate with these [APNU representatives at City Hall now] …”
“Just imagine if you had a cooperative City Council, how much closer we can work with them on changing the City… And for every community and every region we have similar plans, not just the city. But we need to be able to get a supportive council to do some of these things,” the PPP General Secretary stated.
