Rose Hall rally draws large crowd … President talks up economic empowerment through LGE
By Nafeeza Yahya, March 11, 2016, http://guyanachronicle.com/ros...werment-through-lge/
From L-R Minister of Social Cohesion, Amna Ally;Minister of Telecommunications and Tourism, Cathy Hughes; Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan; and President David Granger, along with councillors of Rose Hall Town
PRESIDENT David Granger took the coalition’s Local Government Elections rally to Rose Hall Town Thursday evening, assuring residents that his government was focused on developing their community and that they could be part of this wave of change when they vote for the APNU+AFC candidates at next week’s polls. President Granger was joined by other top-ranking members of the coalition, including, Vice-President and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan; Minister of Social Cohesion, Amna Ally; Minister of Health,Dr George Norton;and Minister of Telecommunications and Tourism, Cathy Hughes, among others. In delivering the keynote address to the hundreds that had gathered, President Granger stressed the importance of Local Government Elections as being the key to getting out of unproductivity to prosperity with a democratic system. “All of you have seen the stagnation…your people migrating to greener pastures, but with Local Government Elections, you don’t have to; you will have prosperity here, because you will have a democratic system in place…It is important because you will be able to sit in your councils and decide how Rose Hall Town will be governed,” President Granger told the gathering.
A section of the large gathering at the meeting
The President also spoke about the stagnation of village economies under the former PPP administration, noting that this had led to mass unemployment whereby graduates could not get jobs. He noted that with Local Government Elections, all that will change because the power will be in your hands to make the changes.
“…no man can sit in Fort Street, Kingston and decide on how to run Rose Hall Town…. We cannot tell you how to run your house, because you know what goes on better than us,” Mr Granger said. The President also promised that as long as his Government is in place, there will be Local Government Elections every three years. “If they don’t perform, vote them out… As long as APNU+AFC is in power, you will have Local Government Elections every three years. You must be the watchdog of your affairs and we will ensure you have that democratic right.”
The President further charged the councillors with two main tasks: to make education a priority and to provide employment for their people. “I want to charge the councillors to make education a priority; I want to ask that the next elected mayor of Rose Hall Town make a promise to ensure every child goes to school and the second thing is to provide employment for your people…I want to see the entrepreneurial skills of Berbicians be realised.” The President pleaded with all to seize the opportunity in ensuring the democratic process works by coming out in their numbers to vote on the 18th March, 2016. He also gave his government’s commitment to fully support the plans of the Rose Hall Town Council to help eradicate issues affecting the residents of the town and stressed that the only way is to support the coalition to ensure these problems are addressed.
David Fraser, a councillor in the Rose Hall constituency under the APNU+AFC coalition said for over 23 years the town had suffered at the hands of the PPP and sub-standard work was done by selected contractors; there was poor drainage and irrigation;and poor solid-waste management among others. He said in just less than nine months the new government has a plan for the township to turn it around and make Rose Hall Town a sight to behold.
Minister Hughes in her presentation called for togetherness and asked that people be aware of forces of division, because the country cannot be built without unity love and peace. She further noted that over the past nine months, the Government has made tremendous strides and can only continue to do better if the people support the coalition. She further explained that local government “is the instrument that allows you to make the decisions of what happens in your community.” “You will decide how the money is spent, which streets need to be fixed, where needs street lights, which drains [are] to be dug. We have promised local government elections and we are now delivering, we have kept our promise, now it’s your time to do your part and put the right people in place,” Hughes told the gathering.
Minister Ramjattan, who also addressed the gathering, spoke about the importance of local government and the need to put the right people in place. He too stressed the fact that at the community level, the councillors will know first-hand what needs to be done locally and filter the information upwards to central government, so that allocations can be made available to get the job done. He lashed out at the PPP for “denying the people for 23 years their democratic right to Local Government Elections” and urged residents to “be aware that they will want to dictate what should be done now that people have that right.”
Ramjattan, who is also leader of the AFC, said that the Local Government Elections can be used as a stepping stone to greater things, especially for younger councillors who can later move on to central government and will have a better appreciation, having worked from the ground up.