BY Staff Reporter
By Rabindra Rooplall in Mabaruma
RESIDENTS of Mabaruma Region One (Barima-Waini) are upbeat and excited to cast their votes in today’s historic general and regional elections.
This is the first time Mabaruma is participating in Regional and General elections since it was gazetted as a township. For businessman Monty Broomes, who operates a guesthouse and catering service in Mabaruma, he is excited to vote on Elections Day. Broomes noted that at the last general elections, many persons were not interested in going out to vote, but on this occasion everyone is interested in heading out to exercise their franchise.
He said there are many young people in the district and noted that after the elections, government needs to develop more education and technical institutions in the region. So far, he said that he is very pleased with the new roadways and developments in Mabaruma. He is also anticipating implementation of the solar farm in the district to contribute to a stable electricity supply.
The 400-kilowatt solar-powered farm at Khan’s Hill, Mabaruma is expected to provide an additional 17 hours of electricity to the 3,000–plus residents of the Barima-Waini community. The solar farm is being built by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and will be managed by the Hinterland Electrification Company Incorporated. The farm was constructed by German company Meeco, at a cost of $227M.
Meanwhile, the businessman further stated that there is need for a bank in Mabaruma. “We already have one in Kaituma, but we need one in Mabaruma, most of the times when changing cheques the most that can be changed is $250,000.” He explained that persons in the district should not be forced to head to Georgetown to change large cheques, since that would be placing them in a risky situation.
For Derrick Fernandes, he will be heading out early along with his family to vote. For him, a father of three, more schools are needed for the youthful population in the region.
Fernandes said that whatever is the outcome of the elections he is hoping for many developmental opportunities to occur in Mabaruma. He said this is his second time voting.
David Broomes, who works as a driver and is also a mechanic, said he will be voting on Elections Day and there is a sense that many persons will vote. “I would like to see more infrastructures, in terms of the road, better medical facilities…” he noted. Otherwise he said things are developing in the region.
According to Goocharan James, a security guard, he is excited along with many other residents of the district to vote on Elections Day. A father of one from the community of Waikrabi, James is a part-time cobbler. He said the government has done a good job but more needs to be focused as a collective on helping to develop agriculture in the region. A total of 660,998 persons are registered to vote in the 2020 general and regional elections. Of that number 8,369 members of the joint services voted on Friday last and 83 ambassadors and Guyanese serving overseas also voted.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_3-1-2020