(This is the eighth in a series on local government)
By Mario Joseph
In the community that blazed the trail for the village movement when former slaves pooled their capital to buy it, Victoria and others like it in the Haslington/Grove Neighbour-hood Democratic Council (NDC) face a different type of bondage today – the deep involvement of the Local Government Ministry in vital decisions.
Victoria, formerly Plantation Northbrook, thrived for decades off the rich and diverse farmlands but today has turned into a community of disorganisation, dysfunction, disrepair and apathy.
What makes the situation even more disconcerting is the fact that Victoria was credited with one of the first codes of local government in Guyana, established in 1845. At that time the owners agreed to a number of regulations that would facilitate the proper management and development of their community, for years to come. Some elders who opted out of being named said that the
