The 7th council of the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 was installed last week and a new Chairman and Vice Chairman were elected to serve. This week’s What the People Say focuses on what are the three top issues Lindeners would like to see addressed by the new council.
Jonathan Craig – `The first issue for me is that of jobs. We got these young people coming out of school, coming out of the technical institute with nothing to do. All they have is their qualifications and a lot of idle time. I would say the second major issue is recreational facilities. In Linden that is a major problem. We have a pools hall that is not necessarily conducive to the masses and besides that are the night clubs and that is not ideal for recreation we need to look at that really. The third thing would be infrastructural development and that speaks volume.’
Coretta Braithwaite-Walton – `For me the Television station would be the top of the list. We need not only access to additional TV stations, we need ones that would be established here, not just a relay system where it is streamed but they must be here providing opportunities for employment for our people here. Next I would like to see the council stay on top of the issue of BOSAI and this dust collector. They need to speed up things as it relates to that. This dust is causing so many illnesses and people don’t even know it’s the dust causing them. The third thing would be for them to lobby to see how the government can assist in establishing a two- lane bridge across the Demerara River here at Linden.’
Aderemi Glasgow – `The first of three issues I would like to see the new RDC address in Linden would be the promotion of tourism. We see that Linden has good potentials in this area and Linden has a lot that we can promote as far as tourism is concerned. The other issue would be to look and lobby for activities that would speak to the creation of jobs for residents here especially those persons who are now coming out of school. Garbage collection is another big one. As it is right now there is a level of discrimination when it comes to collecting garbage. The town council chooses who they think they should be collecting from and the others are left to feel the harshness of piled up garbage.’
Franklyn Brisport-Luke – `One of the main priorities I would like to see the regional chairman look into for this community is sports as a health threat to staying fit for the older folks and more as recreation and a way of instilling discipline for our youths. There is not work enough out there for our youths but we need to keep their minds guided and there is no better way of doing this than by having them involved in sports. Added to that we would need to create an environment for other social activities because sports is just one part of it, things like cultural activities that would gather the youths, bring out talents in them that they don’t even know they have and that has its own way of pulling an income just by performing. Look at skills building in the areas of arts and crafts and to deal with these things would not be hard once the council form themselves into sub committees and interact with the grass-root especially.’
Gilbert Daniels – `The first thing is a better facility for the public which is a public convenience in the form of public toilets right out on the bus park. It is sad to see we had someone take up that initiative and went through the channels then the council decide that they would stop it. The structure is already there and I cannot see why such an important facility does not exist in such a big place like Linden. The other thing that needs addressing is the dumping of garbage about the place by these business people. Garbage is a big issue here and the RDC need to supervise the town council on this issue. The health risks are so many because especially behind the Old Mackenzie Market got one of the largest, stinkest sights of garbage which the council failed to address for years and the sad ugly part is that it sits right on the edge of the river, that same river where water is pumped to our homes and businesses. They need to address the issue of sports for the youths.’
Gavin Green-Marshall – `Issue number one is to free up the television station. People have the right to access information, we have the right to see the channels that the rest of Guyana is seeing so freeing up the media in general, radio and television should be the number one issue. Our health and education and infrastructure issues, one of the sore eyes is that big brand new hospital and look at the condition of that main road. They need to get things like that fixed and they need to do it fast. The issue of agriculture; we got the potential to feed ourselves but the folks in West Watooka need support, they need the inputs to make it happen so that the people in Kwakwani and Aroaima and those other outlying areas could come and get their supplies and turn back. Linden has the potential to increase agriculture output, so the RDC needs to look at it as a serious thing.’
John Rogers – `I would like to see the gutter work, the drainage and irrigation work return to the Town Council. The tourism sector; I think we have a very big potential of promoting tourism right here in Linden but we got to get our people with the mindset to be more disciplined in the way we live, the way we use the roads, how we dispose of our garbage and with that we need better roads in this town. Streetlights is another big thing. When you travel to so many areas right here in Guyana is light right through but here, is a one here, then another far off and most places we don’t even have any street lights, this need to change.’
Coleen Stephens – `I would like to see the council address as one of the main issues, the infrastructural development especially when it comes to the development of the roads in the Wis-Roc phase one B new scheme. I would also like to see them tackle the garbage situation in our main business district in Linden that is our Market area. I also think that they should find a location for the short drop $100 cars. Having them encumbering the roadway is not one of the best things and it so confusing and disgusting the way they take over the road.’
Desmond Richards –`The issues are many and they need to set priorities but as a vendor on this wharf we got serious problems and for the years we have been selling out here the Town council has not been living up to their obligations. It would take me a hour or two to tell you about the issues but the RDC new council has already started out on the right foot because the Regional Chairman and his Parliamentarians have already come out here to listen to us and what are the things that have been bothering us and they gave us the opportunity to make recommendation as to how these issues can be address. If they want to work we are willing to work with them because in the long run we are the ones to benefit and if we refuse to work with them
they wouldn’t be able to lobby on our behalf.’
Nakoya Richards– `I want to first congratulate the new councillors and Regional Chairman and his Vice on their new appointment. I think we should have been given a better opportunity to get to know who they are, I know Sharma because he is always on TV representing sport but otherwise we don’t know who those people are. A good thing for them to do would be to call at least two community summits; one with youths and another with the general public. There they would be able to effectively pull out most of the issues and then set priorities based on the requests of the people. We need to know who would be the councillor assigned to our individual community so that we
can ensure that they interact with us and deliver. We also need to know when there are statutory meetings so we can sit in and hear the level of representation these councillors are making on our behalf.‘
