Dear Editor,
It is very serious that the expending of millions of taxpayers’ dollars on voters’ education has been non-impactful to the wider public. So far, there is very little influence on the main target groups. GECOM needs to do better, since this irrational spending will certainly give rise to accountability issues, to which the organisation should be held to scrutiny.
Scrutineers will also have a strong monitoring role after voting on E-Day, with the return of the ballot boxes to the stipulated GECOM Office. The opening of the boxes has to be done in their presence, as it is imperative that the sorting be done and prepared according to Local Authority Areas, Constituencies, Divisions and Polling Stations. It is hoped that GECOM finds ways to improve its professionalism, and that a system of proper and effective validation prevails.
On Election Day, November 12, the Presiding Officer will have to declare the amount of valid ballots (ordinary) at the opening of poll. The Presiding Officer will have to distribute the official List of Electors, List of Proxies, and the Disciplined Services List of those who voted on D-Day. The Discipline Services List must be looked at carefully, to see all those who voted on D-Day and all those who did not, thus making them eligible to vote on E-Day.
Aside from the elections mechanism, it is critical to observe the Government of Guyana’s recent move to overhaul and raise property taxes across the country. The target is higher taxes on citizens, and it follows Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan’s recent signing of an agreement with the Municipal Property Assessments Canada (MPAC) and AxiLogic Inc Companies to fund a property and valuation system.
Now, this column rejects the notion of additional taxes on our already overburdened citizens. As such, we implore all residents to avoid this whiplash by supporting the PPP/C list of candidates, come November 12, 2018. The Coalition Government, APNU/AFC, has already upped the rates and taxes by more than 100 per cent in the New Amsterdam Municipality and Lancaster/Hogstye NDC, LAAs that they are controlling; therefore, it is clear that this Government is hell bent on increasing rates and taxes. Hence a vote for the APNU/AFC is a vote to increase rates and taxes.
Let us, in a united effort, keep the APNU/AFC out. Vote for the PPP/C candidates to prevent paying higher rates and taxes.
Sincerely,
Neil Kumar, MP
