Pressure mounts on Parliament to speed up local gov’t reforms

By Pushpa Balgobin

Captain Gerry Gouveia

There is a generation that is lacking knowledge of local government elections and that is a severe detriment to the future; this was the consensus of many local community leaders and educators throughout Guyana.
Jennifer Khan, a primary school teacher stated that she herself has never voted in a local government election and she is educating generations of children to “think this is normal in society.” She stated that last year’s national election was a time to teach her students what governance was and how citizens have an active role in democracy, “my kids were thrilled to talk about what was going on and how their parents and older siblings even were going to vote,” continuing that her classroom of young students were eager to learn about the role the government would play in their day to day lives.
“It is a shame that the government can’t get their act together after how many years… I was teaching the president’s role to seven and eight- year-olds, but it is the mayor and their city councillor that is more practical to teach,” Khan stated. She noted that, “it’s ridiculous I myself have never voted for my local representatives.” Chairman of the
Private Sector Commission Chairman, Ronald Webster, stated that holding local government elections was critical to the betterment of Guyana as a whole.
He said; “Community dynamics has changed since 1994, especially in outlying areas”. Webster stated; “one of the key functions of local government is to attract people and business. They need to attract industry and commerce,” he continued that currently, “this isn’t happening because some people have been in their positions for far too long.”
Webster noted that Guyana needs to actively get with the times and progress can no longer be stifled. He said that in most countries and regions, towns, villages and so on, people are appointed by people in those areas and representatives will come from these same locations.
He noted that without a vested interest local government representatives cannot give their respected communities the best work, “they’ve been there too long that they’ve slipped in respect to action and the level of responsibility they have toward their constituencies.”
Webster added that the recent special select committee has to, “move quickly and restore confidence”, in citizens at the parliamentary level.

Man of action
Captain Gerry Gouveia, local businessman and proprietor of Roraima Airlines, stated that he was, “very confident because the Chairman [Basil Williams] is a man of action.” He added that “I expect… this committee to tackle the issues immediately and lay the ground work.”
Gouveia noted that it was a failing on the part of Parliament to only now ensure that a special select committee was established. He noted that local government elections are, “the foundation of our democracy and it is terrible that we are still waiting”, for almost 20 years.
Reverend Ronald McGarrell endorsed Gouveia’s statements, noting that, “we need fresh faces, we need new people who are excited about bettering their communities”.
McGarrell stated that there were “scores” of young persons who have never voted in a local government election and that it was a disservice to the larger community and to the future of generations to come. “People don’t believe that it will happen, but it has to. The people in power have to prove that this time it is serious.”
Basil Williams, chairman to the special select committee on local government and Member of Parliament, noted that he would begin work with the committee in the new year. He was adamant that the four bills dealing with local government election reform would be addressed and a resolution was the goal of both the opposition and the government.