Ramphal, Armogan return as heads of Regions 5 & 6

Vickchand Ramphal and Rian Pieters will return as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

Regional Chairman Vickchand Ramphal and his Deputy, Rian Pieters

The 18-person Council was installed on Monday where the Chairman and his Deputy were elected. Ramphal will serve a second term as Head of the RDC while Pieters will commence his third term as Vice Chairman.
The eighteen Councillors represent eight from the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition list and 10 from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) list.
Ramphal pledged to work in the best interest of all residents of the Region.
“As Regional Chairman I will work with all Councillors of the Regional Democratic Council of Region Five to ensure that the people of this Region receive the goods and services that the RDC has to offer,” he said in a brief statement.
The last RDC only had a few successful meetings after being installed in April 2015.

Re-elected Region Six Chairman David Armogan

Meanwhile, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), David Armogan will return as the Chairman to serve for a third term while Zamal Hussain is the Region’s new Vice Chairman.
Armogan told the RDC that all residents must benefit from the resources within the Region.
“That will be the standing principle within this RDC. So, quite unlike what happened before where resources were channelled in a selective direction but this time it will not be like that, we will make sure that everybody benefits from the resources. Hussain, in referring to his responsibility, said he intends to fulfil it. He took the opportunity to call for unity among Councillors.

Deputy Regional Chairman Zamal Hussain

“For us to acquire this, we need a strong and united RDC with unshakeable commitment to serve all our people with humility, professionalism and loyalty.”
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, who is himself a former Chairman of that Region, related that it will take a lot of effort on the part of each Councillor for the work of the RDC to be successful.
Mustapha cautioned Councillors to listen to the concerns of residents and to go into the communities.
“You are in the RDC to serve the people. It is not the other way around. You are the servant of the people,” he posited.