(Stewartville/Cornelia Ida)
candidate, Amelia Ali
With over 50 per cent of young people making up the general population of Guyana, youths have an important role to play in the decision making process of the country, to shape a brighter future for generations of Guyanese to come.
This is the message of People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) candidate for Constituency Three (Stewartville/Cornelia Ida) Amelia Ali who told Guyana Times International in an interview on Tuesday that is the reason she chose to contest.
Ali, who sits on the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), said she feels there is plenty room for young people to get involved in community development work.
“I think if we as young people are going to shape our future, we need to get on a certain platform where our voices are going to be heard, and be part and parcel of the decision-making process,” she added.
The 24-year-old feels youths should get out and join the local political movement, regardless of which party they chose to be part of. She is encouraging those persons to work towards ensuring that their ideas and plans become a reality.
She said, “If they are up for it, then just come out. Under whichever party you chose to support or even if you want to campaign separately from any political party that is fine as well… but we definitely have to get involved in the decision-making in our country.”
The PPP/C candidate told this newspaper that she first started out in politics a few years ago and quickly developed a love for it. She is a member of the youth arm of the PPP/C, the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO), where many of the leaders, including General Secretary and former President Bharrat Jagdeo also started.
Asked what inspired her to join politics, Ali said she was drawn to it because of the avenue it creates to assist people, communities and the country as a whole. As a young female who has ambitions of becoming a mainstream politician someday, she said she admires party veteran, Philomena “Fireball” Sahoye-Shury the most. “She is tenacious and her story is inspiring. She was involved in politics when the atmosphere wasn’t as easy as it is now. Even though those times were tougher, she still managed to get her message through and she represented her party well,” she added.
Aside from her, Ali said despite being a youth politician, she also draws her inspiration from women not particularly in politics, but those who have made and/or continue to make a tangible contribution to the development of Guyana. These persons include, but are not limited to, President of the Guyana Trade Union Congress and General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Coretta McDonald; and writer/activist, Anna Correia.
Ali, who is currently reading for a bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Guyana will be contesting the Constituency Three (Stewartville/Cornelia Ida) West Coast Demerara area. She said that she hopes to take some changes to the area.
“Most of the ideas I have for my community are not necessarily new but what I think needs to happen is the approach to which we deal with things in the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) needs to change. What I do hope to accomplish if I do get elected is to develop waste management strategies because littering in my NDC has proven to be a sore issue,” she explained.
Ali said that petty theft, robberies and other social ills continue to affect her community. Once elected, she said she will push to have an improved working relationship with the Community Policing Group and the Police to tackle these issues.
The young PPP/C candidate also boasted about her party’s vision for her constituency and Guyana as a whole, emphasising that it has what it takes to manage local democratic organs effectively and efficiently, and will ensure that no new taxes are implemented.
She is encouraging everyone, especially youths, to take part of the democratic process and ensure that the vote at the upcoming Local Government Elections set for November 12. (Samuel Sukhnandan)
