Beterverwagting /Triumph Neighbourhood Democratic Council
For many, the Beterverwagting/ Triumph Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) shows just what a functioning Local Government System can achieve but after two years of success as an independent council, current members of the NDC are choosing to contest the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) as members of the two major political parties.
On the streets of the NDC piles of garbage from two years ago are now replaced by bright blue bins which residents note are religiously emptied every Tuesday; once clogged canals are now clear and several potholed streets have been replaced by smooth asphalted surfaces. The services are by no means perfect as just as many streets retain a profusion of trenches masquerading as potholes but everyone who spoke with this newspaper noted that they were happy for the progress they have seen.
Bibi Charles of Plantain Walk lamented her overgrown canal even as she praised the regular collection of garbage and waxed poetic about the Council’s willingness to give land to those families which have been leasing for decades.