A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) conducted an outreach exercise in Bartica on Sunday. A team of eight Members of Parliament led by Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier David Granger participated in this exercise, in preparation for local government elections.
A release from the Partnership said that the MPs along with regional leaders and supporters fanned out into the community going door-to-door informing residents about APNU’s position on several matters of national and local interest.
The door-to-door exercise was followed by a Town Hall meeting at the St John’s Anglican School, Bartica. The meeting was addressed by Joseph Harmon, APNU Shadow Minister for Public Works and Opposition Leader Granger. The APNU leaders addressed a packed hall that included residents from Bartica and its environs, River’s View, Batavia, Kartabo and Dogg Point.
According to the release, Harmon explained what constitutes money laundering and APNU’s work in the Special Select Committee and the Partnership’s position regarding the amendments to the current legislation. Harmon also said that APNU was committed to ensuring that Guyana not only has strong enforceable anti-money laundering laws, but was working to ensure the autonomous governance of the critical agencies in the new legislation, responsible for ensuring the effective efforts to combat the national scourge of money laundering.
Brigadier Granger’s remarks focused on the need for local government elections and the neglect of Bartica and the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic administration. He said that local elections were needed in order to give residents the power to run their own communities. The Opposition Leader said that the poor roads, problems of solid waste disposal, inadequate water and light plaguing Bartica were a direct result of the PPP/C’s domination and mismanagement of the local government system.
He said that Bartica was one of the oldest communities in the nation, deserving of being a township/municipality and argued that the PPP/C had neglected the hinterland regions of Guyana, making special reference to Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9. Granger said that APNU would use whatever clout it has in the National Assembly to make Bartica a town.
The release said that during a very lively question and answer segment, the questions from the audience were incisive and covered several areas of concern to residents including trafficking in persons, poor transportation and security, inadequate electricity and water supply, the lack of vocational and technical education in the region – emphasising the immediate need for a technical institute at Bartica, the domination of mining areas within the region by foreign nationals (who push out the locals, depriving them of a livelihood), illegal drug use, and the PPP/C’s non-consultation with the residents on the proposed road from Parika to Goshen.
Brigadier Granger said that APNU was committed to the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region and urged residents to get registered in preparation for upcoming elections. He further urged residents to develop the agricultural potential of the region to provide cheap and abundant food and to engage in agro-processing; thus developing a rich and diverse regional economy.
The APNU team included MPs Amna Ally, Volda Lawrence, Dr George Norton, Joseph Harmon, Dawn Hastings, Annette Ferguson, Renitta Williams, James Bond and Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford, the release added.
