(Ministry of the Presidency photos)
The nine recently elected mayors and their deputies were yesterday afternoon sworn in by President David Granger who said it was a happy day and a step forward for the country.
“Today we celebrate the victory of democracy over dictatorship. Today we celebrate the return of the right of the people of every community to elect the persons they want to represent them and to direct the affairs of their municipalities and their neighbourhoods”, he told a room full of persons.
The ceremony was held at the Ministry of Presidency. Noticeably absent were members of the opposition PPP/C.
The new Mayors are Patricia Chase-Green (Georgetown), Rabindranauth Mohan (Anna Regina), Gifford Marshall (Bartica), Henry Rupert Smith (Mabaruma), Kirt Wynter (New Amsterdam), Ganesh Gangadin (Corriverton), Carwyn Holland (Linden), Vijay Kumar Ramoo (Rose Hall) and Carlton Peter Beckles (Lethem). The Deputy Mayors are Sherod Duncan, Darshan Persaud, Kamal Persaud, Ashtrilla Gamell, Winifred Heywood, Krishnand Jaichand, Waneka Arrindell, Dave Budhu and Maxine Ann Welch respectively.
Granger, who didn’t comment on a raging controversy swirling around Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, stated shortly after the oaths were taken that “today is a happy day. Happy not because some people have won, some people have lost, not because there is victory or defeat but because Guyana has moved forward”.
He urged that steps must not be taken backwards but rather there should be movements forward. He expressed delight that the mayor and deputy mayors of three new towns – Mabaruma, Bartica and Lethem, were being sworn in.
”We struggled for this because we believe that these huge regions can only be developed if they are driven by the engines of strong towns”, he charged.
Granger told the gathering that the Barima-Waini region which is some four times the size of Trinidad and Tobago will now have a capital town at Mabaruma. “There is work to do, banks to be built, lights to be provided, roads to be fixed”, he said.
With regards to Bartica, he said that it is located in a region which is bigger than the Netherlands. He said that there is work there to be done as well. He reminded that government wants to make it the greenest town in Guyana and a model to show the rest of the country and the Caribbean Region how “we can develop in harmony with nature”.
Lethem, located in the largest region of the country and bigger than Costa Rica, he said, deserves to be a town and should have attained that status years ago.
Granger stated that the municipal, regional and central government levels have to work together to develop the country. “We are not enemies, we are not fighting each other.
You all have sworn an oath to administer your municipalities without fear, or favour. You have nothing to fear from the central government”, he stated before reminding the new office holders that they must be fearless in the execution of their duties and show no favouritism to “people of one family or one ethnicity or on social group”.
He said that there is work to be done and a future to build. “Guyana looks to you mayors and deputy mayors, councillors to provide for the economic development of the municipalities and I expect that these municipalities will also become demographic centres”.
Granger stated that government’s vision is for these towns to not be compounds but rather capital towns.
He said that these towns will be the “magnet” for employment and economic growth. “We want to see in each one of these towns the proliferation of the public service, good educations, good health, good water supply, services such as NIS and GRA. We want to see functional banks…places of culture, museums, (and) galleries”, he said.
The president made mention of zoos particularly in the three new townships and the establishment of modern airdromes.
“So when I swear you (in) I don’t see PPP, I don’t see the APNU…I see citizens who are committed to developing these towns, developing this country”, he said before praising the Mayors and Deputy Mayors for stepping forward to take up the challenge of managing the country’s towns.
.
