A call is out for Region 10 chairman Mortimer Mingo to resign his position as a representative of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) on the grounds that his judgement is questionable over the offer of a lot at Pradoville 2.
Leader of the Guyanese Youth Congress (GYC) Denton Osborne said that efforts to convince residents of Linden that they need to vote at the upcoming National and Regional elections have become even more challenging since Regional Chairman of Region 10 and campaign leader of the APNU/PNCR Mingo has been thrown into the spotlight as it relates to the controversy surrounding the issuing of land at Pradoville 2 at Sparendaam.
Speaking with Stabroek News in an exclusive interview, Osborne said that the issue is not where Mingo wants to have land but rather the perception. “Mingo is a PNC Regional Chairman and it looks like he is taking favours from the party in Government who supposedly suppose to be the opponent,” said Osborne.
He said that when political parties go out to their constituencies they are in the habit of painting each other as the enemy. “Now it seems like you are sleeping with the enemy because you are taking favours from those who are supposed to be your enemy.”
According to the GYC leader, on numerous occasions residents and supporters of the PNCR had approached Mingo seeking assistance in securing land … and they received no help.
“You (Mingo) who suppose to look out for the interest of your constituencies say, ‘hey nothing can’t be done…’. You (Mingo) saying there is nothing you can do, it’s up to the government, or is the PPP who is causing it that you can’t get land here in Region 10…. Here it is they are offering you land in one of the upper class communities and you are taking it, you are not fighting for the people, you are looking out for your own interests.”
More upsetting to Osborne is the feeling that Mingo had misled the nation by withholding information which indicates that he had attempted to purchase the land. He said that he firmly believes for the sake of the youths of Guyana and to preserve a level of trust in the political system, Mingo needs to resign with immediate effect.
“We cannot be sending these double messages to our young folks in this country, if you are a man of integrity, be a man of integrity but don’t come and try to fool us that you are there fighting for us when you are not, it appears that you are there looking out for your own interest.”
According to Osborne this is not the first time Mingo’s activities have raised questions. He referred to 2006 when Mingo’s signature was appended to a proposed document to have locations across Linden used as dump sites for international waste. He said that in a similar manner of showing the cheque which indicated Mingo had demonstrated interest in purchasing the land in the controversial Pradoville 2 housing scheme, the PPP/C government had also made public his signature to a document showing his support to the international waste disposal initiative at Linden.
Osborne, then an active member of the PNCR youth arm, said that in a move to make campaigning easier they had suggested to the hierarchy of the party to have Mingo take a back seat position. He said at that time the PNCR had promised that Mingo would not have returned to the position of Regional Chairman of Region 10. “After the election they said that they hadn’t anyone else and so they put him back there and we have been protesting against these things and that’s one of the reasons why we became the GYC.”
He said that none of the political parties in Guyana is likely to win in this situation because of the high levels of apathy that have been experienced in all the major political parties.
“The AFC (Alliance For Change) experienced it, the PNC has a high level of apathy, even the PPP experienced apathy among their supporters.”
According to the GYC leader it is issues of that nature that make it challenging when trying to convince residents to vote. He said that residents would complain that whether or not they vote, their personal economic status will remain the same.
Regarding residents of Linden, he pointed out the issue of water supply to the residents of Amelia’s Ward which has been brought to the attention of the Regional Chairman on numerous occasions. “Residents have been complaining a long time to the chairman, they have been writing the government about having water lines to their homes but no water coming out of them, and they are not getting any help from none of them.”
He said that everyone, including persons in his party, who are trying to be in the public domain to convince persons to vote have come across the challenging situation of persons having a high level of distrust in the people chosen as leaders of the various parties.
He expressed the view that residents do not feel leaders care enough to do as promised during the campaign. “We need to change our politics, we need to be more trustworthy in the eyes of our constituencies, we need to do something,” Osborne declared.
