LGE 2016…UG student promises to curb juvenile delinquency in Georgetown

The city of Georgetown is divided into 15 constituencies and A Guyana Nation Building Corps will contest nine in this year’s Local Government Elections (LGE), slated for March 18. Ian Campbell, an Economics major at the University of Guyana, is contesting Constituency Eight which covers the Stabroek-Wortmanville- Werk-en-Rust area for the Corps.

The youth candidate stated that his main agenda was to improve sanitation and curb juvenile delinquency. Under the Guyana Nation Building Corps umbrella, constituents can expect a “technologically advanced drainage and irrigation system”.

He stated that community members must continue to work together to maintain the drainage systems in spite of what allocations emanate from City Council and Central Government.

Campbell outlined his plan to curb the problems which affect youths in his constituency.

“In order for us to curb juvenile delinquency, we have to actually mobilise education, sports and other basic trends that we’ve lost with the progression of time. We must reintroduce these things into our culture today,” the candidate explained.

He posited that the lack of education has fostered a culture of gambling and drug dealing, but rejected the stigma the area is home to robbers and burglars.

“Yes, [they] sell a lot of drugs, but in terms of robberies, burglaries and theft, we’re not involved in that,” Campbell emphasised.

“It’s a farce for persons to say that when you walk through the ghetto as they would say in my constituency, persons would be afraid because of a lot of stealing and robberies; well, that’s not true, that don’t happen anymore.”

Campbell intends to emphasise his group’s plan to budget for “Nation and Community Builders Development Centres”, which he opines will aid in stemming the many problems that the youths face in the constituency. The candidate intends to ensure that the sport sector is rejuvenated and believes that many ground facilities should be returned to the community.

“We had ground facilities: right now there are none and we are trying to petition to get Darcus Club back. Those grounds have been taken over for commercial means and other political agendas and purposes, and we, as a collective unit in these so-called ghettos, are humbly asking for it back, so we could channel our energies towards sports and anything that’s positive towards the community,” the youth candidate stressed.

Campbell opined that based upon what he has heard, the reintroduction of the National Service may be able to contribute to the economy, since many of the youths have complained of unemployment and the country’s current economic state.

The candidate declared that although he was recently catapulted into the political area, he was ready to represent his constituents.

“I was one of the last active members to be inducted, but my interest was always there and it was just about a few weeks before Nomination’s Day that I was actually given the opportunity to enter and I ran with the mantle and I don’t have any regret thus far,” Campbell explained.

He stated that consensus, cooperation and compromise were all imperatives in moving forward in working with the community. Campbell opined that being blessed with knowledge and 25 years of living in Leopold Street has qualified him to represent the needs of his constituents. He cited his training in development economics as essential since the community was one which needed much development.

A Guyana Nation Building Corps was formed through the Guyana National Civil Society Council (GNCSC) which was quite vocal in its advocacy at the 2015 General and Regional Elections. In addition to contesting in the capital, the group will also contest 47 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and eight municipalities across the country. (Guyana Times)