| …interaction highlights importance of Govt. accountability Executive Members of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Moses Nagamootoo, Nigel and Cathy Hughes, Gerhard Ramsaroop and Kojo McPherson, along with political activist Frederick Kissoon on Sunday last, met and interacted with the people of Linden.The party which has been gaining momentum over the years lost a significant amount of its support base in Linden during the recently held General and Regional Elections as was evident in the casting of votes.The AFC team used the opportunity in Linden to give residents a platform to voice their concerns about pertinent issues that are affecting them, according to Ramsaroop.Ramsaroop also pointed out that the interactions,Tyler Johnson Lightning Jersey, apart from serving as a catalyst to help the party bring about change, were also aimed at assuring Lindeners that the AFC cared very much for the community,Matias Fernandez Chile Jersey, and what is taking place.“These interactions will help us to determine ways to address issues affecting the people both in and out of Parliament,” he acknowledged.He was also quick to point out that notwithstanding the loss of support from the mining town, every single vote for the AFC counted for the new dispensation that “we presently find ourselves in, where the Government has now got to be accountable to the people, as the people of Guyana now control Parliament.”He added that the AFC wanted to assure the people that they are not angry with them, but grateful for whatever support was given.According to Ramsaroop, the AFC is committed to representing Linden, as the party abhors the current system which treats the Town like a ‘step child’ of the Government.“We have come to ensure that Linden regains its rightful place, and get what every other area in Guyana is getting”, Ramsaroop emphasized.Nagamootoo also highlighted several discrepancies that currently prevail in the present administration and pointed out that the AFC will be “putting the pressure on.’The AFC also underscored the issue of accountability which it treats with priority.According to Nagamootoo “there are many many issues of accountability…the text book issue,Cleveland Indians Jerseys, the issue of giving contracts when Parliament was dissolved.”He spoke of the fact that following the dissolution of the 9th Parliament, “they signed a number of secret deals.”Nagamootoo was making specific reference to the project entailing the expansion of the CJIA, the Georgetown Marriott Hotel as well as the widening of the Demerara Highways.“They have been busy distributing the loot…distributing the resources of the State to their friends, they felt they would lose the elections, and they wanted to give out the radio licenses before elections so that their friends could be taken care of.”Nagamootoo also reiterated one of the AFC’s primary bugbears,Craig Biggio Jersey, “contracts…the big contracts, where the bigger the contract the bigger the payback.”In expounding on the issue Nagamootoo said that,Alejandro Bedoya Jersey, “The one that strikes us as important was the one for the specialty hospital.”He said that the administration is parading saying how the “AFC join with APNU (A Partnership for national Unity” to vote against an Indian hospital, because they want to make us appear, as if we are against Indian people, but this hospital they were negotiating was to be built with Indian money,Ryan Reaves Jersey, money coming out of India.”He said that “last year I was in parliament, when the AFC was on the other side, I sat on the Government benches when $150M was voted for the hospital.”The former Government executive said that the administration has now approached the Parliament “and they said they want $29 mil more,Miami Marlins Edinson Volquez Jersey, and this $29 mil was to do land preparation, so we didn’t vote for it but asked for an explanation what happened to the $150M they said they didn’t spend.”He reminded that the initial amount voted was supposed to have been spent on design, “it’s like trying now to vote for the $29M to do land preparation and you didn’t know…it’s like building a garage and you don’t know the size of the car.”Nagamootoo said that it was only this past Wednesday that the administration approached Charles Ceres, a structural engineer to do the soil testing.“So they were now going to do the land preparation for a structure that they don’t see, which is the ‘phantom eyes’ hospital- the Gajraj type hospital…They were going to build it without doing the soil testing to see how heavy the structure would have been.”Ceres refused to take the contract.“So we caught them with their pants down on the issue and everybody is now applauding us, and they tried to turn it into a racist thing,Nolan Carroll Eagles Jersey, but this has nothing to do with race…It has nothing to do with who is building the hospital and who is donating the hospital…It has to do with accountability.”Attorney Nigel Hughes told the gathering that the most important asset or weapon any citizen has is the mind,Pablo Hernandez Jersey, and urged the gathering to develop that asset and use it.He exhorted Lindeners to equip themselves with the necessary skills to capitalize on the great opportunities that will become available as more of the country’s natural resources are utilized. |
