Dear Editor,
My first and last meeting with the former Housing and Water Minister Mr. Irfaan Ali, now a Presidential Candidate was sometime in 2012 when Irfaan had been recently appointed a Minister in the PPP/C Government. A close relative’s reputed husband, a policeman died of cardiac arrest. This woman, a single parent who had to provide for her children was allotted a house lot at the Pomona Housing Scheme on the Essequibo Coast, Region # 2 and had started to construct a three-bedroom concrete and wood house, upper and lower flats.
After the death of this woman’s husband she maybe was unable to pay off for this house lot, and had indicated to the Regional Housing official, that it was her intention to honour her obligations to the Housing Ministry. But to the surprise of this woman, and to the entire community her under-construction house was dismantled and the house lot was allocated to another person.
I then was a member of the Regional Democratic Council and my relative was now residing and gainfully employed in another Administrative Region. I met the Minister on her behalf and related her predicament to him because the public was informed that the Minister was due in the Region to listen to the concerns of the residents and, of course, as far as possible have those concerns addressed. But to my utter surprise when I related the plight of this single parent to this man, he was short and blunt. He told me that he does not deal with third parties. I was shocked and I was at a loss for words to respond to him. I managed to say thank you sir. I somehow managed to find the door of the Regional Democratic Council Boardroom.
It was a legitimate expectation that he would have at least listened to me after I would have identified myself and told him of my relationship with this single parent, and offer some sort of advice, but that was not to be. Now this uncaring man, who is now professing to be all sorts of an individual is running for the presidency of this country.
Yours faithfully,
Archie W. Cordis
Former AFC Councillor
Region # 2
