-after squabbling between PPP/C and PNCR members
A meeting to hear the concerns of persons living in Yarrowkabra on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway ended in disarray as residents witnessed squabbling between members of the PPP and PNC.
“[It was] actually like a war zone [but they were] fighting for political space,” said Alliance for Change (AFC) councillor on the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Michael Carrington. Chairman of Region Four Clement Corlette said that the purpose of the meeting was to hear the concerns of the residents, while Carrington said that it was to establish a Community Development Council (CDC). People’s Progressive Party councillor on the Region Four RDC, Kwame McCoy said that Corlette had breached protocol and a CDC had already been established.
Carrington told this newspaper that there had been two CDCs in the community, one headed by Lloyd Wilson and the other by Dawn Profitt, but they were not functioning. He stated that on January 7, the AFC held a meeting at the community health centre and discussed issues such as schools and roads, and Wilson pledged to call a meeting to resuscitate the group but it was called off.
The councillor said that he and Corlette decided to call the meeting to establish the CDC yesterday, but were informed that Philomena Sahoye-Shury of the Local Government Ministry would “break-up” the meeting. He stated that on Monday, he had gone to her office but she was unavailable and he left his phone number. He noted that he had sent invitations to two PPP councillors on the RDC about the meeting.
Corlette last evening denied that it was a meeting for the purpose of establishing a CDC and said that it was a general meeting of the community as there were lots of issues facing residents such as roads. He stated that there were “issues along the lines of representation” but he had only seen Carrington’s letter when he turned up.
Carrington said that Sahoye-Shury, McCoy, other PPP members of the RDC and a cameraman, turned up at the health post where the meeting was to be held yesterday. According to him, Sahoye-Shury told them that no one had the authority to call a meeting to establish a CDC since only she had such authority. She reportedly said that before any meeting to establish a CDC was held, she must be consulted.
Corlette told this newspaper that when he arrived after 2 pm, he saw the microphone and asked who it belonged to and upon being told, asked the cameraman to remove it as he did not invite the press and would prefer if other media houses were present as NCN only reported one side of the story. He said after the cameraman removed the microphone, McCoy came “in a passion” and told Corlette that he could not do this.
Carrington said that an argument then erupted between the Chairman and McCoy. He stated that McCoy started shouting and hitting a desk and “behaving in an antagonizing manner to create confusion.” The councillor said that last week Saturday, Sahoye-Shury had come to the community and established a CDC with Profitt as Chairman but no one knew about that development. He expressed the view that the RDC was the elected authority for the region and the CDC was not a government organization such as a Neighbourhood Development Council, and the central government was usurping the authority of the RDC and operating in an undemocratic manner.
“We try to have a proper democratic process today,” he lamented while noting that the PPP members “broke-up” the meeting before it even started and “keep a set of noise” with “people running up into people face and shouting forcing the meeting to be called off.”
But McCoy when contacted said that he did not know of any “break-up” of the meeting and stated that Corlette and Carrington had called the meeting to establish a CDC but on May 24, such a body had already been established in the community. He stated that the CDC was formed through the regulations of the National Director for CDCs which is a department of the Local Government Ministry headed by Sahoye-Shury. He stated that Sahoye-Shury had been invited to yesterday’s meeting by members of the community and she had invited him and other councillors of the RDC.
McCoy said that he went and took a cameraman with him but Corlette objected. According to McCoy, members of the community insisted that the cameraman be present and they then asked for his opinion on the issue and he said that it was a convention that the media could attend and cover any public meeting without invitation. Corlette then reportedly said that the cameraman should leave.
According to McCoy, after the cameraman did not leave, Corlette adjourned the meeting and had “several quarrels” with community members and in the process he relegated McCoy and told him he had no right to be speaking at the meeting. He responded that he had a right to speak because he was a member of the Region Four RDC. Corlette said that he had cause to upbraid two residents after McCoy “made lots of inciting comments.”
McCoy alleged that Corlette then proceeded to “assault” a member of the community and had to be escorted out of the building. Corlette denied this and Carrington said that he had seen no such incident. McCoy stated that the community members said that they had come from far away and had left chores to attend the meeting and asked Sahoye-Shury and himself to carry on with the meeting. Corlette, according to McCoy, then returned and said that they had no permission to utilize the building or keep the meeting. Corlette said that McCoy had no authority to re-convene the meeting after he, as the Regional Chairman had adjourned it.
McCoy said that he challenged him and Corlette was “booed out” by community members and he left. He stated that Carrington remained but left shortly after. The PPP councillor described the meeting as “very successful” with a number of issues being raised which would be followed up. He stated that the residents had also been informed that the CDC had been formed and explained how it had been done. He declared that Corlette breached protocol when he attempted to form a CDC and accused the Regional Chairman of trying to form the CDC because of upcoming local government elections.
Carrington noted that after Corlette left, Sahoye-Shury called a meeting with the people who remained.
He lamented that the community was neglected and they were trying to see what they could do so that it could be developed. “We are now totally divided,” he said, adding that about 50 persons were present and after seeing the “chaos,” some left. The councillor said that they planned to have another meeting within two weeks, which was confirmed by Corlette.
