…says PPP Council did justice with little resources
By Shemuel Fanfair
With less than 50 days to go before Guyanese across 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs) head to the polls to vote in Local Government Elections, incumbent Chairman of the Toevlugt-Patentia Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), Sahied Khan, has expressed great optimism about his party’s prospects of remaining in the driver’s seat.
At the March 2016 Local Government Elections (LGE), the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had unseated the then People’s National Congress (PNC) Council at the NDC. The PNC had been in the majority since the last local polls were observed in 1994, but were included under the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition slate for the 2016 polls.
Khan, who presented the PPP/C’s list at the Toevlugt-Patentia NDC Office in Good Intent, West Bank Demerara on Friday last, told the <<Guyana Times>> that once re-elected, the party would ensure that it has more engagements with residents in the various villages. Among these areas are Wales and its surrounding environs, which have been dealing with the fallout and economic impact from the Wales Estate having officially ended operations in December 2016.
Khan outlined that if the Party is successful, the Councillors would continue to operate in an above-board manner.
“I expect that we will win, because with the little that we have, we did justice. Our Party is focused on accountability, transparency. It is very hard to get 100 percent, but we can get close to it. We plan to have constituency meetings monthly, but that depends on the people’s turnout; but we are often available, as this is the only way that we can work for the best of the community, by hearing from them. They might have four or five issues, and you can’t satisfy all, but people feel satisfied when you meet with them,” Khan explained.
The community representative has held the post for just over 2 years. However, Khan, who is elderly, indicated that he would be willing to allow a younger candidate to succeed him.
“It is good to have new people, because, being there, you can be able to guide them. Nobody can be everlasting,” he told this newspaper.
Among his objectives for the NDC, the incumbent Chairman is hopeful to work with fellow Councillors to eradicate improper garbage disposal in the villages. In some areas, it has been found that there is indiscriminate behaivour in this regard, but Khan stressed that to bring out the change that is needed, the people of the villages have to come on board with the NDC’s plans.
“This is our main issue, and we need the help of the government of the day,” he commented on the garbage issue.
Meanwhile, he said some persons have erected structures on State reserves, but he does not intend to pursue a confrontational approach to remove persons. Rather, he hopes to work with the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) to reduce the time in which residents are awaiting Government-issued house lots. The objectives for development, Khan outlined, may seem ginormous to some; but, in his words, nothing much can be achieved without the rates and taxes which residents are required by law to pay.
“We want to get people more on board with us, but if you don’t have the funds you can’t do many things with the little that we have. Half of the houses [in the NDC] are new houses, and they are not paying taxes; and of the remaining houses from before, only half are paying taxes. We don’t have no intention to raise taxes, since that would be from Central Government. We want to get more people on board to pay their rates and taxes. We also want people to purchase copies of Chapter 28:01 (Municipal and District Councils Act) to tell them about their rights,” Khan explained.
