The newly-appointed mayors of the country’s three new townships have identified infrastructural development as being among their main priorities.
Shortly after taking the oath of office on Wednesday, Mayor of Bartica Gifford Marshall told reporters that he will be meeting soon with fellow councillors to draft plans for the township. He noted that challenges will come in the form of finances. “We definitely will have to get much more capital if we are going to accomplish our goals and objectives,” he explained.
Asked what is at the top of his to-do list, Marshall said that there will be a ceremonial opening for the township on April 23rd and all energies will be put into that.
He said that next up is the government’s vision of making Bartica the first model green town in Guyana.
“We have lots of infrastructural work to do. We are talking about our roads… municipal airport but as I said over and over again, we must work with the people, especially our young people, it is a major task,” he stressed.
Marshall highlighted the need for job creation for young people.
Asked whether he is willing to embrace the APNU+AFC’s rivals, Marshall said that the elections are over and all resources will be used to move Bartica forward. “So we are not seeing anyone as BIGA or PPP right, now but Barticians,” he said.
Carlton Beckles, the Mayor of Lethem, says he will first be looking to get the council together and establish the various standing committees. He noted that their operation will require a bigger office.
Beckles said that meeting with the members of the various constituencies to inform of the developments that will be taking place in Lethem is also on his list of things to do.
According to him, he and his councillors will be looking at ways to garner additional funding, while noting that Lethem does not collect rates and taxes.
He said a street lighting programme has already started and so far 40 of the intended 100 lights have been installed.
The rehabilitation of the leisure parks as well as clean up and community enhancement will also be addressed, he noted.
He mentioned too that there are a number of projects that will start soon and these include the rehabilitation of sporting facilities.
Henry Smith, whose election as Mayor of Mabaruma has been shrouded in controversy and is being challenged in court, says his first order of business would be the improvement of the town’s infrastructure. “Road, water, lights, those are priority areas,” he said.
Smith insisted that he is prepared to work with everyone on all sides for the betterment of the community. “Of course. That’s why I am here,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, new Linden Mayor Carwyn Holland says there is a lot of work to be done. He spoke of the rebuilding of both the mining town and the confidence of the people. In particular, he noted that there are a lot of youths who have to be shown a bright future.
“In order for us to survive, there are several things which have to be done in order to not take Linden back to what it was but to make Linden better than what it was ever,” he said.
“We want to move Linden from a township to a city and I believe that it is possible,” he added.
However, he noted that the municipality is more than a $100M in debt. “In fact, we are going into council on a negative [but] I am confident, I am an optimist and I do believe in the sociology of enterprise where if you have a dollar you can turn it into a million,” he said.
Holland added that once the people have the will, Linden can return to its glory days.
The new mayors and their deputies were sworn in by President David Granger during a simple ceremony at the Ministry of Presidency on Wednesday.
