Two sitting councillors are running for the Lodge North/Meadow Brook Gardens constituency seat at the March 18 elections and they are facing competition from independents in a seven-person race.
The contestants in the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) race for constituency nine in Georgetown are individual candidates: journalist Mia Ritchie and cameraman Ivan Bentham; sitting councillors Monica Thomas for APNU+AFC and Gladstone George for the Benschop for Mayor Group; Meadow Brook Garden resident, James Cole for the PPP/C; graphic artist Michael Leonard for Team Legacy and Martin Gaul, representative of A Guyana Nation Building Corp.
Gaul, Thomas, Cole and Leonard are also on their groups’ proportional representation list which means that even if they were to lose the FPTP race they could still get on the council depending on how well their groups did.
Stabroek News made several attempts to speak with the contestants for the two major parties but was unsuccessful. Thomas told Stabroek News that she is busy and could not speak while Cole was not available.
Ritchie, 46, told Stabroek News that she decided to enter the local government race because she has been involved in community empowerment for several years.
The D’Urban Backlands resident described herself as a humanitarian and said the councillor’s platform would give her the opportunity to address the issues of her constituency.
Some of the areas she highlighted are installing street lights, having signboards with speed limits inscribed for safer roads and maintaining clean communities.
Ritchie stated that she would also advocate for guidance classes within the communities to give teenagers skills such as speech making, communication for trade and industry and dressing for success among others.
Ritchie said if elected she would seek to implement her plans through self-help programmes. Ritchie, a mother of four and a television journalist said that she would seek to attract funding from the diaspora and by
fund-raising activities.
Ritchie said she has been conducting a door-to-door campaign and her feedback has been positive. She declared that if elected she would be a councillor not only for her constituency but for all of the constituencies in the city.
Tender age
Mentor to youths and part-time teacher, Gaul of Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, Georgetown, said he had to be involved in the local government elections because he has been an advocate for the holding of the election on his weekly television programme “Window to Local Democracy” since 2006. He said that from a tender age he has been involved in community work and has been very vocal about issues affecting persons.
The businessman stated that he will focus on creating close-knit communities because local government is not just about infrastructure development. He explained with such communities, persons would have avenues to channel positivity which would eliminate social ills.
Gaul stated that he would be advocating for drainage systems that would always have water running, sidewalks for pedestrians and nation-building centres. He said that with a facility such as the centre the constituency would be able to equip youths and women with skills that would make them successful in life. He also said that he would like to see streetlights installed in all the streets of the communities to help eliminate crime.
He added that for projects like the centres, he would have communities form themselves into groups and mobilise funding from international agencies. He noted that he would also seek to gain funding from allocations from central government.
Gaul, who is a graduate of the University of Guyana, said he would like to have consultations with the bus drivers operating Route 41 to have them extend their services to D’Urban Backlands. He explained that in that section many seniors have to walk because the buses don’t go into the area and he would like to make the lives of seniors more comfortable.
If voted in as a councillor he would also seek to have school traffic patrols returned and be assisted by the city police.
Gaul, a father of four, said that his campaign method is currently door-to-door but he may be having a few public meetings as the March 18 date draws closer. He stated that persons need to be educated on the hybrid voting system and where and how they should vote.
Gaul, said if he becomes a councillor he would like to bring the realisation of President David Granger’s `a good life for all’ promise closer.
One with a difference
The Team Benschop representative, George, who is a current councillor representing the defunct A Good and Green Guyana, said he decided to compete because of the hybrid electoral system. He explained that the election is one with a difference and the system gives persons the opportunity to be responsible and focus on the constituency they are elected to.
The Princes Street, Lodge, contractor said that being a resident of the community which seemed to have been forgotten for years because the council focused on other areas fuelled his desire to get involved with the elections. George, who has been a sitting councillor for the past five years said if he is given a second opportunity to service his constituency, he would seek to implement the rebuilding of the community centre and the health centre, a council office in the constituency and work to upgrade the environmental health of the area.
George said that plans for the community and health centres were submitted under the previous government. He said that if elected he would seek to have the project get the green light and funding from the government. He also stated that a piece of land was already identified for the project on D’Urban Park, west of the National Communications Network.
The council hopeful also stated that he would seek to have consultations with the government as it relates to the current construction project on D’Urban Park to have his constituency involved.
George who has worked as a Communications Manager said that he would also seek to have the regular presence of the vector control unit in the city. He noted that fogging by the unit is necessary to assist in preventing the breeding of disease-carrying insects.
George said that even though he did not have the opportunity to serve effectively in community development while being a councillor, he assisted with the Information Technology Department to ensure that City Hall properly manages its finances.
George added that he has chosen to campaign with the Benschop for Mayor group since he believes it has the vision and leadership to restore Georgetown and make it a modern city. He said he has been going around the constituency and having one-on-one interactions with individuals. He also said that he has advertised in the media and is using flyers.
Youth transformation
Leonard, 35, told Stabroek News that if elected as a councillor he would work on his team’s plans which are to attract community investment and encourage youth transformation.
He said he believes that attracting businesses to his constituency would be one way of making changes. He explained that he would focus on having youth transformation immediately. He said that during his campaign persons have signalled their willingness to assist with programmes such as computer classes, after-school classes and homework. He noted that he would also like to see child care services being available during the day and night to assist single parents who are working.
Leonard of Norton Street, Lodge, said that he would seek to have a multipurpose centre created to facilitate various enrichment programmes. He stated that while the plan for the centre is a long-term one he would make representation to have the programmes conducted at private and public buildings in the interim. He said that he does not consider the projects that he envisions would get started immediately.
He stated that he is campaigning with the motto: “it takes a village to raise a child.” He explained that he would lobby to have youths and elders meet and create a platform for knowledge sharing. He added that a community should not see a youth going down the wrong path and not offer assistance.
The aspiring councillor said that he would also push to see residents engage in frequent clean-ups and not just when there are national events. He noted that he would look at the possibility of installing streetlights at a cheap cost and said he would aim to tap into contributions and financing from the diaspora to fund the initiatives.
Leonard declared that he would also like to see improved distribution and delivery of city services. “If you go around, places are already weeded and clean but if you pass around the other areas they are not touched as yet. We want to advocate and represent people of our communities,” he explained.
Leonard said he got involved in the election because he realised that too many persons were waiting on seasoned politicians to help with the development and transformation of their livelihoods. He said that as an entrepreneur he sees the need to lift up communities to create better environments where children can be safe.
Leonard currently manages his own advertising agency and a news service. He is chairman of social change organisation BlueCAPS which advocated heavily for the holding of Local Government Elections prior to the General Elections of 2015.
He said he has been involved in door-to-door campaigning and persons are very responsive towards the vision he laid out.
Avenue
For Bentham, the 31-year-old chairman of the Hadfield Community Centre, getting involved in the local government election means he has an avenue to further help his constituency. “Local government elections are a great opportunity for young aspiring leaders within their communities, using this as a springboard to catapult to the higher calling of leadership within the broader sphere of the country,” Bentham added.
Bentham, who works as a cameraman at the Government Information Agency, said if elected as councillor he would look at the possibilities of equipping the constituency with a fully modernised information technology centre for students and adults. Other plans for the community he said are to establish a library for the citizens of Lodge; set up an administrative office in the community with a notice board to inform the citizens about programmes/community meetings and have information readily available to residents on rates and property ownership, licensing, and permits needed for repairs/extensions. Bentham said he also plans to make representation for street lighting, properly weeded parapets and trimmed overgrown trees within the community.
The part-time businessman explained that he would seek funding for his projects from the Government of Guyana and look at tapping into funding through grants from international organisations. He said that he had already submitted plans to upgrade the facilities of the Hadfield Community Centre to the Department of Culture, Youth and Sports but he has not received any positive word.
The Hadfield Street resident said that if elected as a councillor he would fight for the residents to have services that they rightfully deserve.
