With local government elections set for tomorrow, residents of the township of Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast say the economy is at a “standstill” and called for the establishment of more industries to provide job opportunities.
“Over the last 10 years the town is at one stage all the time. The young people are out of school with nothing to do,” they said.
“We need to have these industries to create jobs especially for women and early school leavers. That would help to improve the living conditions and more money would circulate.”
According to them, “The women have nothing to do and instead of being involved in ‘talking name’ [gossiping], they can do something constructive.”
The residents also called for the establishment of a branch of the University of Guyana in the township.
They pointed out that many people have to leave their homes, and in some cases their families, and pay extra money to travel and rent places in George-town to get an education.
They told Stabroek News that the Anna Regina Town Council is responsible for keeping the drains and parapets clean.
It does not collect the garbage as it is supposed to but the town is still very clean.
The reason for that, they said, is because of the efficient service provided by Puran Brothers Disposal Inc.
According to residents, the town council needs to do a lot more for the town such as providing streetlights, maintaining the landmarks, upgrading the play park for the children and even establishing a library.
They said that the town is “beautiful and the people are generous but we want the young people to have good benefits. If they move out of here they should have good memories and be able to say good things about the town.”
They told this newspaper too that the “council is not utilizing the money properly. They don’t want roadside vending but they are collecting the money.”
Stabroek News spoke to a few vendors who said that they couldn’t go into the market located nearby because there is no space. “If they want us to go in there they have to renovate it and make it big…”
They confirmed that they pay a fee of $500 daily to the council but said not everyone would pay and that is not fair.”
To justify selling on the roadside, they said, “the road is wide enough and we are not interrupting the traffic.
At the hire car and minibus park located close to the market and the town council office, drivers were distressed that the council may want to charge a fee for the use of the park, saying that they were “hardly getting work out here.”
The drivers declared that “if they want to do that they would have to devise a proper plan to change the system and it has to be countrywide.”
The residents said too that they would like to see “better management to boost the town. We hope that after the Local Government Elections better systems would be put in place, to better manage all of the affairs.”
Residents were generally not excited about the Local Government Elections though, with some saying, “we never witness it and we don’t know anything about it.”
But they do hope that it would “bring about change and development in the community.”
Rice industry
A rice farmer, Tillack Singh told SN that the LGE was “nothing to be excited about” because that would not make a difference with the state of the rice industry and farmers would still continue to suffer.
He said they were promised “$2300 per bag of paddy for this crop while it cost them $2200 to produce. Only about 25% of the paddy was not planted on the coast and still they were not getting a good price.
“If they had paid $2700 to $3000 per bag, we coulda live with that. We know that the prices drop in the world market but the millers could have done something better,” he lamented.
Last crop, he said, the millers paid them $1000 per bag of paddy and used it to produce bran, which they sold at a cost of $1000 per bag and broken rice for $2200 per bag.
He said the rice farmers are going through a tough time, with no rainfall water and with hardly any water in the conservancy they had to incur extra expenses to pump. But yet, they had to pay water users’ fee.
He pointed out that they did not want to invest in this crop but they took a chance because they “owe the bank” and were hoping that they would be able to earn enough to honour their obligations.
Town Council
A source at the town council told SN that a new Interim Management Committee was installed in July 2015 but it was not doing much to improve the image of the town.
The council is experiencing financial difficulties mainly because of an outdated valuation system.
“A building is valued for as low as $40 and up to $2000, which is way beyond what the council should be getting.” Even so, big enterprises have not been paying for years.
“Other than the $9M subvention from government, the council does not have money to do anything. We want the government to intervene.”
The government “should come and spend some time to understand what is going on. The council is in a bad position and we really need help.
“We would love to be like the Georgetown Municipality, which is out of financial difficulty and is paying the staff well.”
The council purchased a mini excavator two years ago but it has never been used because it was not purchased with the “rubberized wheels, slush bucket and grill bar in front of the glass, that are required,” the source said.
As such, the town council has to depend on “equipment from the region but they are not always available at our disposal.”
According to the source, the staff is underpaid, with some of them earning a mere $7573, which is inadequate to sustain their families. “Many months staff don’t get paid and we have kids to send to school.”
They do not benefit from the five percent across the board increase and the staff was deprived of the $50,000 end-of-year bonus that was paid last year. “We never really get bonus even though we work hard all year…”
The council is highly understaffed, making it more difficult for the few workers to execute the tasks efficiently.
“There are lots of illegal structures, vendors taking over the road shoulders and other issues we have to deal with… But we are not generating funds. The council has a playground where we charge a fee for its use but relatives of some of the town council’s people do not pay. That is not fair.”
The source lamented that “management needs to know how to handle the workers and fight for their rights. We need proper medical and pension schemes. Because of the low salary, all we get is $1500 monthly upon retirement.”
