Christina Edwards, a daughter of the Rupununi, felt so strongly about representing her community at this Friday’s polls that she resigned from her post as Discount and Securities Officer at the Republic Bank at Lethem.
“Having decided to contest, I wrote the bank asking for permission to launch a campaign. I was denied. So, after consulting my family [husband and two children], I made the difficult decision to resign as I feel very strongly that I can give my community the representation it deserves,” Edwards told Stabroek News yesterday.
Edwards’ campaign is built on risk. Having made the decision to contest and resigning from her job in a field she has been active in for more than a decade, Edwards also took the risk of running as an independent candidate in the elections ofconstituency 5 (Moco Moco – Manari (Lethem) – Windmill Road To ‘T&M’ Restaurant (Takutu River) ) of the newly-minted Lethem municipality.
“In Lethem everything is done from the within the party,” she said. “But I wanted to represent the community not be compelled to act along party lines.”
She is insistent that if elected to council her priority will be representing a fully engaged community.
“A lot of times, people in public office tell you what you want. They will say you need such and such a road, so we are building it. I, however, will engage the community to learn what they want rather than telling them,” she said.
According to Edwards, Lethem, as a new municipality, needs to be developed along the lines of a comprehensive plan informed by a socio-economic analysis.
She is asking the members of her constituency to support her in making Lethem “an even more beautiful community.”
As part of her campaign, Edwards has produced and distributed a pamphlet outlining what she hopes will be the guiding principles of the new Town Council.
They include Community Engagement: All decisions made by the council should have input from the community; Happiness and Well-Being: Everything the council does contributes to the happiness and well-being of the residents of the community; Honesty and Transparency: The council and council members must be accountable to the community and disclose all transactions; and Respect: Every individual will be respected regardless of ethnicity, opinion or religion.
She also hopes to offer the community development along the lines of Security and Human Rights, Sports and Recreation, Education and Youth, Planning and Public Infrastructure, Environ-ment and Energy and Economy.
Included in those plans are engaging in a human rights awareness campaign for residents regarding laws of Guyana; creating and implementing sports and recreational programmes for adults and children at community centres and sports grounds; and to collaborate with relevant authorities towards the development of a vocational school as a centre of technical excellence in the region.
Edwards, in her plans, acknowledges the community’s proximity to Guyana’s southern neighbour, Brazil, and as a result she proposes that the new council liaise with Brazilian counterparts to promote and enhance ease of cross border trade and create a bilingual anti-litter campaign to target both Guyanese and Brazilians.
Efforts to conduct the other candidates contesting in this constituency proved futile. They are Kerry Anthony Jarvis, of the APNU+AFC, and Jason Anthony Wilson, of the PPP/C.
