Candidates for both the governing APNU+AFC and the opposition PPP/C on March 18 in constituency nine of the Toevlugt/Patentia Neigh-bourhood Democratic Council (NDC) have lamented plans to close the Wales sugar estate.
In interviews with Stabroek News, Mark Anthony Khan, a plant foreman at the Wales Estate and Alice Lindo, a cattle farmer, both think they can take the community forward. They have similar plans in terms of upgrading the roads and drains.
In this first-past-the-post voting, they would be contesting Area ‘L’ and a section of Patentia east and west, including the squatting area and the burial ground. Whoever wins the race will secure a council seat on the West Bank Demerara NDC.
Khan, 52, is representing the People’s Progres-sive Party/Civic while Lindo, 68, is a member of the governing A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Chance (APNU+AFC) coalition.
When Lindo was asked by a member of her party to contest, she readily agreed because “I think I can do something good for the community.”
She emphasized the need to help some of the residents who have been squatting in a section of the village, by having the area regularized.
“They are poor people and they have nowhere else to go,” she said. “They live in shacks…”
The residents benefitted from electricity but the Guyana Power & Light Inc. recently removed the meters.
If chosen to serve the community she would like to help to enhance the lives, of not just those persons, but of all the residents. She would also ensure that the drains and roads are well maintained.
Lindo, who has been living in the village for about 45 years, was engaged in private cane farming but was forced to quit the business three years ago “because of the low price.”
With regards to the closure of the Wales sugar estate at the end of the year, she said it would affect her a lot. “We used to depend on it; my sons work there. The community would never be the same without the estate,” she told this newspaper.
According to her, the government could have “done something better, like notifying the people and give them about three years before they close.”
She said too that the government could have put some systems in place so that the workers would not have to be stressed out about how they would take care of their families.
Khan, a serving councillor in the NDC for more than 11 years, believes that with his experience and involvement, he can make a difference in the community.
Being a pastor also, he has helped with social problems such as counselling residents on issues of alcohol and drug abuse and suicide.
From his “young days” he always had a genuine interest in “community development and loved to get involved to make an impact.”
He plans to ensure that: the drainage and roads are in good condition, streetlights are installed and there is adequate water supply. He would also see that garbage is collected through the NDC.
He loves “bringing people together; a community that is together always stands up.” He hopes to get others involved and would help them to understand how the community works and how the development would benefit them.
Khan said that the closure of the estate is imminent and that it would be devastating to the community.
“We have to have resilience to overcome those hurdles. We’re going to become a depressed area. People have already started to move their businesses,” he said.
He told Stabroek News too: “We want to make a call to (Prime Minister) Mr. (Moses) Nagamootoo to subsidize electricity and water because he promised to take care of the sugar workers.”
He said the Prime Minister now has a “golden opportunity to make an input… to put the differences aside and prove the critics wrong.”
He called on him to start putting mechanisms in place for the subsidy, which can start at $5 per kilowatt. He is confident that it can happen because of the reduction of the fuel price.
He does not know “what venture the government would get into… I was part of GuySuCo Dairy (diversification project) and it failed, we tried rearing tilapia at the estate and it failed and we had to share out the fish because they were not growing.”
Khan stressed that the closure would affect thousands of people and it would also have an effect on the financial resources of the NDC and the community centre.
“The NDC depends on rates and taxes to run the community centre, which is very expensive and it would be a burden to the NDC,” he said.
He is “willing to work with the government to develop the community. I want to give them ideas that people are bringing to me… We are not hearing what is the next move.”
