A 19-year-old independent candidate beat the PPP/C and the group 8th of May Movement, in the First-Past-The-Post component of the recently held Local Government Elections (LGE) and having gained a seat on the Beterverwagting/Triumph Neighbourhood Democratic Council, plans to push for a research centre for the area.
Jimmaul Bagot of Ogle Street, Beterverwagting competed against Seeraj Singh of the PPP/C and Zachary Glasgow of the 8th of May Movement and was able to garner 117 votes compared to 111 for Glasgow and 94 for Singh. A third year Electrical Engineering student at the University of Guyana, Bagot told Stabroek News yesterday he was elated that his fellow residents and other members of the community placed their trust in him and voted for him. The 8th of May Movement won the majority of the seats on the council.
“Basically the APNU+AFC didn’t run and it was just the PPP and the 8th of May Movement and well, I think I won because I am a people person,” the new councillor said. He revealed that he has only been living in the area for a mere three years compared to the other two candidates who have been living in the area for most of the lives. Bagot credited his success to his instinct of always helping people.
“I believe I won because of the way people looked at me. If there is anything to be done in the community, I was always first and always available. All the cleanup campaigns, I was always there and I think another advantage I had was my age and qualifications. People saw that I was going to UG and I was furthering my education and I think that made them trust me even more to be their representative,” he said. He added that he has helped almost everyone in his community in some way or the other and that boosted his chances.
Bagot credited a colleague who was also running as an independent candidate in another constituency for his decision to contest. “One of the main reasons I decided to run, I wasn’t going to at all, is because I have a colleague and he was running as an independent candidate and we were on attachment together and I saw him writing his letter to send in for local government elections,” he said.
Bagot related that he was ignorant about LGE and what it actually meant and when he inquired as to what his friend was doing, he informed and educated him about LGE.
“When I learned I could’ve been part of the council and make certain decisions for the community, I went ahead and asked him to do one for me too and he sent it in and after that then everything just played out,” the teen related.
He recounted that campaigning was extremely difficult because of him having to balance work and studying. “Even it was 5 or 5:30, as long as the sun was out, I would still go and campaign because this area is predominantly PNC supporters and the 8th of May Movement and me. Because of that, that gave the PPP an advantage because of the split votes so I had to do vigorous campaigning in terms of garnering the PPP voters,” he recalled.
Bagot said he thinks one of the main reasons for him winning was because he was able to get some PPP/C supporters to vote for him.
“I am sure about that because I went on elections day and gathered persons, took them to the polling stations and ensured that they voted, and yes, I am pretty sure I won because I garnered some of the PPP voters,” he said.
When it comes to his plans and doing things for his community, Bagot said he will be working along with the councillors and is going to put most of his focus on getting a research centre. “I already have an overseas donor who is willing to donate about 10 computers towards the research centre and I was talking with the chairman about the project and he was very supportive of it,” he related.
The new councillor said they have already located a building that would be suitable for the centre. In addition to that, he said he wants to bring back the library. “There was once a library here for the community but it was removed and a church was built. I think they already have enough churches around the community but that’s a touchy topic I don’t want to talk about,” he said.
The teen related that he intends to start a cleanup campaign as early as next week. “I have already gathered people who will be taking part in the cleanup and stuff like that,” he added.
Bagot said while he has lots of plans, he wants the people of the community to know that some of them will take time and cannot be achieved overnight. “I can tell you I want good roads, regular garbage collection, lights on every corner but that’s the typical things people promise but they can’t appear overnight,” he said.
The councillor stated that while he is unaware of the current financial situation of the NDC, he wants the people to know that he will work towards giving them a better life and they can expect him to put all of his energy into his duties and they can have high expectations of him.
Bagot said he also wants to implement skills training for the youths in the community so as to help give them an advantage when looking for employment. “I will personally volunteer to teach computer classes to further give the youths an advantage in getting work and once you are living in the area and you are going to school, you are going to be able to use it (the centre) for free but the adults will have to pay, so as to create an income to sustain the centre,” he asserted.
