APNU takes Local Gov’t campaign to Bartica

Apr 03, 2014 News

…promises to make community a town, again

The main political coalition, A Partnership for National Unity, (APNU) has promised to use whatever power it has in the National Assembly to make Bartica a town once more.
Leader of the opposition, David Granger, during a recent door to door campaign exercise, intended for the upcoming local government polls, on Sunday, reassured residents, that his coalition would like to see that community becomes Guyana’s seventh town. The party also promised to address several issues affecting residents of the community.

APNU members meeting with residents of Bartica, on Sunday

Bartica is a gold mining district, where business has been thriving owing mostly to the high price for the precious metal, both locally and overseas.
The APNU team included Amna Ally, Volda Lawrence, Dr. George Norton, Joseph Harmon, Dawn Hastings, Annette Ferguson, Renitta Williams, Mr. James Bond, and Regional Chairman, Gordon Bradford.
With supporters of the Partnership, they went to various parts of the community, meeting with residents and informing them about APNU’s position on several matters of national and district concerns.
The exercise was followed by a Town Hall meeting at the St. John’s Anglican School, Bartica.
APNU leaders, Joseph Harmon, Shadow Minister for Public Works and Brigadier Granger addressed a packed hall that included residents from Bartica, Rivers View, Batavia, Kartabo and Dogg Point.
Granger’s remarks focused on the need for Local Government elections and the neglect of Bartica and the Cuyuni-Mazaruni by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Administration.
He said that local elections were needed in order to give residents the power to run their own communities. The Opposition Leader said that the poor roads, problems of solid waste disposal and inadequate water and light plaguing Bartica was a direct result of the PPP/C’s domination and mismanagement of the Local Government system.
Granger said that Bartica was one of the oldest communities in the nation and deserves to be a township and a municipality. He told his audience that the PPP/C has neglected the hinterland regions of Guyana. He made special reference to Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine.
During a segment, residents raised concerns about several issues affecting the community, which included Trafficking in Persons; poor transportation and security; inadequate electricity and water supply; the lack of vocational and technical education in the region – the immediate need for a Technical Institute at Bartica; the domination of mining areas within the region by Foreign Nationals (who push out the locals, depriving them of a livelihood); illegal drug use; and the PPP/C’s non consultation with the residents on the proposed road from Parika to Goshen.
Brigadier Granger said that APNU was committed to the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region and urged residents to get registered in preparation for upcoming elections.
He further urged residents to develop the agriculture potential of the region to provide cheap and abundant food and engage in agro-processing; thus developing a rich and diverse regional economy.
Harmon detailed what constitutes money laundering and APNU’s work in the Special Select Committee and the Partnership position regarding the amendments to the current legislation.
Mr. Harmon said that APNU was committed to ensuring that Guyana not only have strong enforceable Anti-Money Laundering laws, but was also working to ensure the autonomous governance of the critical agencies responsible for ensuring the effective efforts.
Officials on APNU’s campaign frontier have noted that the party has visited the ten administrative regions.

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