Despite suffering a marginal defeat, outgoing Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Alfred Mentore is banking on his selection from the Proportional Representation list for another opportunity to represent his constituents and citizens of Georgetown on the new council.
Mentore, who was elected Deputy Mayor in 2018, suffered a loss to PPP/C’s constituency candidate Alfonso De Armas-Archbold at last month’s Local Government Election in Constituency Four – Lamaha Gardens/Bel Air Park. Mentore had won the constituency in the last two consecutive elections but was beaten by 31 votes. He attained 937 votes while De-Armas-Archbold secured 968 votes. In 2018, with 654 votes, he had secured a whopping 107 more votes from PPP/C’s then candidate Patrick De Santos.
“I would say I ran an extremely good campaign with the resources I had. The PPP/C had more resources and ran a decent campaign but when you look at 2018 and now I managed to increase my votes by an estimated 50 percent. The votes increased by 300…,” Mentore underscored.
He said that in his view the defeat was not significant as the victory was marginal and that was simply because his PPP/C opponent had the resources to “give him the edge” resulting in the win.
Mentore, recounted that from the 23 polling stations in his constituency, he managed to snag wins at 15.
“I am a bit suspicious, because if you research the last two elections I won those stations with 30 votes while PPP had about 18 votes. But this round I got about 60 and 70 votes and the PPP got 200 votes, it’s an exponential increase,” Mentore said.
He added that his request for a recount was denied.
Putting the loss behind him, Mentore said he was still prepared to represent his constituents and residents of the city.
“I will always be a representative of the people. They have put their trust in me and I plan to give solid representation to my constituency and all those who might have been led astray,” Mentore disclosed.
Asked about achievements in the last two elections as constituency councillor, Mentore stated that during the APNU+AFC tenure of government, he along with other councillors were able to receive funds and execute developmental projects in their constituencies.
The constituency had benefited from drainage works, however, Mentore went on to state since 2020 when the PPP/C took office direct funding from central government to the constituencies stopped. He said they have been trying to work with the limited resources at the council to promote development in their constituencies.
Noting that he will not hold his breath, he said with the momentum projected by the government, he hopes there will be some collaborative effort between the council and central government and the city can benefit from transformative changes.
Mentore had told Stabroek News when he entered the realm of local government politics in 2016, “I feel I can make a difference for my constituency today and the various constituencies in Georgetown in particular.”
Mentore believes his wide knowledge on leadership was an asset to the council.
Enthusiastic councillor
De Armas-Archbold, in a telephone interview, stressed he is enthusiastic to enter City Council and start finding solutions to issues and not only in his constituency. He pointed out that the culture of neglect in the city needs to be changed and this is one of the biggest issues the council faces.
“Going into the council I am excited but cautious because it is going to be a learning curve. However, I do think City Hall has been accustomed to neglecting issues that can simply be addressed. Like in Newtown, alleyways are not cleaned regularly or they allow residents to build bridges one on top of the other, these are issues that do not require money but rather the city being diligent in their duties,” he pinpointed.
The newcomer to local government politics also stated that he decided to enter the race to bring about change as his community has suffered for years from neglect. The promises of transformation from 2016 are still to be realised, he said.
“I can’t really say if the victory was from the people voting for me based on the campaign or if they were just fed up but I intend to work. Growing up in this area, Bel Air Park, the issues have been the same, nothing has changed and this led me to join the campaign,” he indicated.
Asked what is a priority project for his constituency, the Entrepreneur stated he will look at fixing drainage. He stated that in the constituency, small amounts of rainfall contribute to quick flooding and despite this being an issue for years, it is still to be remedied.
“From consultations with the residents they need the drainage issues to be fixed. This has been neglected for years. The rain just have to drizzle and the Bel Air Park area has water. The residents have a right to proper drainage which is a basic right to living comfortably,” he said. With his skills in entrepreneurship, he also hopes to contribute meaningfully to the management of City Hall. He said while he is not fully knowledgeable about how a council operates, his experience as a businessman can be useful.
Furthermore, he said, he is prepared to work with Mentore and all the APNU+AFC councillors for the betterment of the city and residents.
He pointed out that he wished to see more campaigns being run in the civil and professional manner like he and Mentore did.
“There was no cuss outs, no attacks on personality. We campaigned on issues to be addressed and how we will do it. I wish to see more of that in the future of campaigning,” De Armas-Archbold, who has also been part of the Citizens Initiative, said.
