Dear Editor,
I would like to thank all those who voted for the coalition, especially the younger voters. As a campaigner for the Alliance for Change party for many years I have experience of how people can react under different circumstances.
While I was campaigning in this election 2015, I held my nerve and composure; this was one of the most difficult times for me on my campaign journey. I had to take insults and racial slurs from people whom I have known for many years. It went so far that I was accused of releasing information to a government party supporter; they were trying to defame me.
I walked the hills, the valleys, the swamps, and visited the riverine areas, and to some people it seems as if I did nothing to bring about change. I would like to extend my gratitude to all those villages that I visited during my campaign. Places such as Hotoqui, Hobadiah, Mabaruma Settlement, Cam Water, Barabina, Hosororo, Wania, Yarakita Arawu deserve special mention. We will revisit you. Not forgetting the business people from Kumaka.
We the residents of Kumaka/Mabaruma have some priorities such as a branch of the New GMC which can purchase farmers’ produce. What is imperative is a ferry from Kumaka to Georgetown. We were promised this ship 23 years ago. Do not let the Kimbia embarrass this government.
Mathews Ridge needs lights, water and proper internal roads, in addition to an office in the village for community purposes. Port Kaituma needs lights and roads to be upgraded.
The PPP/C has underdeveloped this region. We have to stop employing teachers, nurses and drivers by contract.
We will have to watch for those who want to harass and infiltrate the system for their personal gain.
We cannot make the same mistakes the PPP/C made; remember the world will be looking at us.
Regardless of ethnicity no one should entertain animosity; this is healing time. The government is the servant of the people, not its master, and should practise what it preaches.
I want to thank all those whom I have met along the way in the AFC starting from Mr Raphael Trotman, Mr Khemraj Ramjattan, Mr Michael Carrington, Mrs Cathy Hughes, Mr Nigel Hughes, Mr David Patterson, Ms Valerie Garrido-Lowe and Mr Nelson McKenzie. It was nice knowing all of them.
Now is the time for interior development; we have the land, let’s stop importing peanuts and encourage our farmers to produce through a well-thought out agricultural plan. Put in place experienced officers who love to visit farmers and share their knowledge with them.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Hope
