This week on What the People Say we asked members of the public to comment on the Local Government Elections and any other issues affecting them. Here are their responses:
Eileen Rogers, farmer/huckster
‘I heard about Local Government Elections but I didn’t follow up much about it. I am planning to vote though. I live at Maria Johanna, Wakenaam and I am hoping that after the elections they would take care of the drains because it is very bad. I use a boat in the trench to bring out my produce. It needs digging because it is very shallow and it is filled with coconut branch. Many times I have to go in the trench and push the boat out. Because of that I couldn’t bring out coconut this week to make oil to sell. I am also hoping that the young people in Wakenaam would find jobs. There are no job opportunities and most of the young people are leaving the island. They had promised to fix the road from Noitgedacht to Ridge but they only did about 15 feet and the rest is very bad.’
Roopnarine Persaud, vendor
‘I have been following the developments about the Local Government Elections and I would go out and vote. I am hoping that betterment would come after the elections. We need improvement with the water supply because right now the pressure is really low. We are not getting water in the kitchen and in the bathroom. In the night when everybody is sleeping then it would come on good. I hope that the representatives in my area address this problem. We have good roads and drains but they need some maintenance. I have no complaint about the garbage because Pooran Disposal Service would come around and collect it. The rate for electricity is very high and it is hard to pay that amount every month. They should reduce it because the fuel price dropped.’
Deodat Singh, rice farmer/vendor
‘In Leguan we plant rice and there is no price. The millers paying $1600 per bag of paddy and the government is not doing anything about it. We can’t
leave Leguan and go and search for price. I have 30 acres of rice land and by the time I finish buying fertiliser, seed paddy, drugs and pay labour cost I am not left with anything. I plant a little cash crop also and to get water just to wet the plants I have to dig a deep hole. I don’t know anything about Local Government Elections and I have no time to vote because I am going away from this country. This is real punishment we are facing.’
Mohamed Wazir Amin, farmer
‘I don’t know anything about the Local Government Elections. I don’t know where I have to vote, whom I’m voting for and if I have to vote. Nobody is coming around like when they wanted to change the government at the National Elections. I am a farmer at Parika Backdam and this drought is really extending. We know that it is natural but nobody is looking in our direction in terms of people from the Ministry of Agriculture. Normally we would get the Agriculture extension field officers but we’re not getting anybody now. Nobody is coming forward to assist the farmer to get water. We don’t know if the Minister of Agriculture ever visited farmers in Region Three. Whenever we start harvesting and selling out we don’t know what would happen. We’re not even sure if we would get anything to eat because the things that we sow are dying, they are not growing. Then they are diverting the water and giving it to the rice farmers and
the sugar industry. They are pumping it from our end and pushing it over the other side. All you’re hearing is that billions of dollars spending in the agriculture sector but we don’t know in which direction. We heard that they are spending money in the interior to develop agriculture there. But how many people live in the interior? They need to look at the development here and manage it properly.’
Kamla Dhanmattie, snackette vendor
‘I would go out and vote at the Local Government Elections to see if betterment would come. I know where I have to vote and whom I have to vote for but I have to find out what I have to do. People are really struggling in this country to make a dollar. The money doesn’t even show on the grocery that you buy; $10,000 and $20,000 can’t buy goods for the week. My daughter has a few subjects but she is not getting a good job. She was working at a Chinese store and I recently had a problem with them because she would go home at 10 o’clock in the night. Then they were making her clean up for them but she didn’t go there to do maid work. She had to quit the work. They made an arrangement for her to work up to 7:30 pm and they can’t go beyond that. Government should look into this. I plan to go into the labour ministry to complain. If something had happened when she was going home at that hour who would have been responsible?’
Minawatie Persaud, vendor
‘I don’t know anything about Local Government Elections but I would go out and vote. I am a vendor at the Hydronie market and we are paying a weekly rent and it is not fair that some people are selling on the roadside. It is affecting our business and this is what we depend on. They have been
selling out there for years but nobody is doing anything about it. There are many empty stalls in this market but they don’t want to come in. How can good come in this country? This government needs to put systems in place and bring everybody in the market. They are not paying a rent but they would leave the place in a mess. Then they are blocking up the street and people can’t get to drive there. The president clearing Georgetown let him come and clear Parika. Right now I have a house lot and I am not getting money to put down a foundation. I have to pay a rent of $20,000. Two months ago I had to pay $250,000 to GPL [Guyana Power & Light] because they disconnected my light for three weeks. They told me that the screw on the meter slack and that means I tamper with it. I don’t know anything about meter, how can I tamper with it? I run all over where people told me to go to get justice but I didn’t get justice. I had to borrow money to pay them just to get the lights back because I have my children and grandchildren there and we need it.’
Nalini Mangra, vendor
‘I live at Hubu Backdam and I am not following anything about the Local Government Elections because I don’t live in the Local Authority area and we don’t have to vote. The vendors out on the streets at the Hydronie market need to be removed from there. They are affecting our sales and even taking up parking space, plus they are blocking vehicles from driving through the street. There are many vacant stalls in the market that they can occupy. When the women come to shop they don’t know where their husbands park. So they cannot buy the amount of items they want because they can’t fetch the bags. Everybody just come and put down and sell. When they finish selling there around 12 or 1 o’clock then we would sell in here. We have to wait until 7 or 8 pm to finish selling to go home. Out there is brighter than in here. In the afternoon we have to sell out everything really cheap because we can’t take them home and cook them.
Raj Kishore, vendor
‘I have not been following too much but I know that I have to go out and vote. I believe that there would be betterment in the community after the
elections. Right now the development is slow. We don’t have any problems with the streets or the garbage because Puran service would come and pick up. The drainage needs clearing though.’
Mohabir Singh, vendor
‘I am from the Essequibo Coast and I am planning to go out and vote. I don’t know much about Local Government Elections but I am hoping there would be more development. We don’t have problems with the road. Farmers in Essequibo are having a hard time getting water for their rice crop. There is a conservancy but the water is not at the level for the farmers to get enough. Farmers have to spend a lot of money to pump the water. I see that a lot of rice starting to dry up already. The little that they would reap would not be so healthy and because of that they would not get good price.’
Silvie Basdeo, farmer/huckster
‘I have been following about the Local Government Elections because I see it on the TV. I would have to go out and vote. I am from Amsterdam, Leguan and right now a serious problem there is water. We’re not getting proper water from the tap and even though the river water is sweet right now they are not taking in water in the trenches. We beg them to open the koker but they said the [NDC] chairman is not on the island. Maybe until Tuesday or Wednesday they would open it but by then the water would get back salty because this is the neap tide. We are really suffering for the water. All of the ponds dry up and the cows are not getting water or grass. And they are dying out. If they flood the land the grass would grow. If you tell them to open the water they are opening one board so we don’t get enough. Everybody knows this is the dry season but they can do something to help the farmers. The [GWI] pump was working good all the time but a man who works with the AFC felt that we were not getting enough water and he brought someone to drill the pump. But instead they broke up everything and they locked the door and went away. We get a little water from the back of the island but till around 8 or 9 o’clock in the night and that is when I would water the plants. During the day because a lot of people are using water we would hardly get any. We have to wait until around 2 pm to fill up the tanks.’
Rupert Harry, farmer
‘I know a little about the Local Government Elections but where voting is concerned I don’t know anything about that. I am from Noitgedacht, Wakenaam and I don’t know who is representing my village. Nobody came and told us anything. I see it on the TV but I don’t understand everything. Most of the trenches in my area need to dig back. The weather is dry now so the trenches are dry. When the rain comes we would get flood if they don’t dig them. I have a problem with the water company. My water was disconnected because they said I owed $28,500. But the bills still keep coming and now the amount is $51,000. I called them and all they kept telling me was please hold. I wasted $500 credit to call them. I have to be begging for water but not everybody would give me. I want GWI to look into this water problem. I am willing to pay the $28,500 but I am not paying the extra money they are talking about.’
Stephen Archer, farmer
‘I live at Bendorff, five miles away from Parika and my village is not in the local authority area. That means that we don’t have to vote. Twelve villages in there are not under the NDC so any complaint we have we have to go to the Regional Office. The road is in a terrible condition. Not even a grader come in the area now to do any work. The last time a grader came was almost three years back. When it came the machine broke down and they took it away. When you go in to the regional office and talk to them they just push you around. We plan to go back on Monday to ask for a grader just to level off the road. A lot of produce comes out of the area every day to go to Georgetown. Buses and cars would punish to go in and the owners would have to go in expense to fix them. Schoolchildren have a hard time getting transportation too. The last village that has water and electricity is Naamless.’
