Call for the Mayor of Lethem to be factual

Oct 09, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
The response by the Mayor of Lethem, Mr. Carlton Beckles, in Stabroek News on the 6th October to a letter initially published in Kaieteur News by an anonymous concerned resident of Culvert City, Lethem on the 28th September, was factually incorrect. I would like to set the record straight regarding what took place during the early development of Culvert City playpark and secondly, the concerns initially raised by this anonymous resident; feelings that are shared by many of the people living in this community.
If Mr. Carlton Beckles thinks that by giving written permission for the community of Culvert City to go ahead and use public space for a playpark attributes to him starting the community park, then indeed he is right. Mr. Carlton Beckles’s office did address the official written permission to a resident of the community (and not Councillor George Henry as he now states) in response to a written request by the residents of Culvert City to form a playpark. This was where Mr. Carlton Beckles’ involvement in the creation of the playpark ended.
It was the determination of members of Culvert City, who spent many hours writing letters and sourcing donations and digging into their own pockets that initially made this park a success – without the help or direction of the council. Councillor George Henry, a resident of the same community, did indeed donate some of his time as a resident and made contributions equal to many other residents. Let us not pretend Mr. Henry acted on the council’s orders in his personal efforts during these early days.
Other members of the Culvert City sourced donations of play equipment, park benches, street lighting and monetary contributions, the latter were used to assist Mr. Dalip in grading the ground; again this was done independently and with zero assistance from the council as Mr Beckles now claims. We would like to thank the former NDC for allowing us to collect the councils’ “rejects’, namely three dilapidated pieces of play equipment which were to be thrown away if not rescued by Mr. George Henry.
The restoration of this old play equipment was done at cost by a local Lethem tradesman and monies donated by the businesses of Lethem paid for this. Councillor Henry was not involved in these restoration arrangements nor did he pay for them from his own pocket as Mr. Beckles has written.
Our playpark came to fruition in a little over 6 weeks in December 2015, thanks to the hard work of our community and support of local businesses. It was not envisioned nor created by the Mayor as he now claims and it is an insult to the residents of Culvert City and the businesses of Lethem that supported this project for the Mayor to make such a statement. The park has since been enjoyed by many and was widely considered a success, but indeed as the Mayor says; “it’s a work in progress, “and one we hope to build on since the Ministry of Communities’ assistance in August this year.
I reach out to the Mayor of Lethem, Mr. Carlton Beckles, and say let us work together to continue the success of the Culvert City playpark and the future development of our community. Most importantly let us start by building on a foundation of truth rather than crushing the spirit of community self-help with these egotistical lies. Ultimately Mr. Carlton Beckles, you should be man enough to give credit where credit is due.
Lethem resident

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News