Dear Editor,
It is approximately two months now since the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) placed a release in the newspapers that repairs will be done to First, Second and Sixth Streets in central Cummings Lodge, among other streets in Georgetown. It was mentioned that funds for these works will come from the monthly subventions from the government. It must be remembered that Minister Kellawan Lall was present at the meeting with the President and council officials when the agreement for the release of these moneys was signed.
To date no repairs to these streets have been done and they remain in a deplorable state, especially Second Street which will be impassable to vehicular traffic soon. To add insult to injury the very Minister Kellawan Lall lives in the area. Apparently he is not concerned about how the money is spent or he has no authority to make representations.
Over the years with support from this newspaper I have highlighted the treatment meted out by the government and the council to my surroundings. If a pipe is broken, a street needs repairs, the water supply has stopped or you have an unscheduled power failure there is no one you can call to ask for assistance or information. In order to speak to the M&CC you have to wait until they hold a meeting at a school in the village before you can voice your concerns, and yet they do not do anything.
If local government elections comes around one would hope that citizens would be given the option to have a regional office nearby rather than depending on the M&CC. I hope that the politicians put a system in place that would remove the authority of the M&CC from Cummings Lodge. I am certain that my fellow villagers who are predominantly PPP supporters do not know that when they voted for their party in the 1994 municipal elections several PPP councillors were placed in the council to represent their interest. Did they make anything happen for the village?
If the electoral system fails me this time I might be forced to go and live with my relatives in Barbados.
Yours faithfully,
R.M. Khan
