Bulkan establishes new Region Nine NDCs -among nine new local gov’t areas for upcoming polls

Ahead of upcoming local government elections, Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan has announced the participation of nine new local government areas, two of which have already been gazetted.

An Extra-Ordinary edition of the Official Gazette, dated June 1st, 2018 but published yesterday, records the termination of the Burro-Burro neighbourhood of the Upper Burro-Burro/Central Rupununi community of Region Nine and the formation of the Aranaputa/Upper Burro-Burro and the Annai Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).

Using powers granted to him under the Local Democratic Organs Act to divide Guyana as he deems fit into regions, subregions, neighbourhoods and people’s cooperative units, Bulkan has issued the Local Democratic Organs (Neighbourhood Democratic Council) (Amendment) Order of 2018.

At the launch of a Government Public Awareness and Stakeholders Education Project, in the compound of the Public Buildings on Friday, Bulkan announced that eight new NDCs and a new township would participate in the upcoming local government polls.

Bulkan explained to Sunday Stabroek that the creation of the two new NDCs in Region Nine is the result of consultations with residents, including those of Annai and Aranaputa, members of the Regional Democratic Council and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs.

“The object was to make Aranaputa, which existed in a no man’s land, an NDC. It had been demarcated but not activated since the 1980s,” Bulkan explained. He added that the residents of Annai expressed the desire to remain a village, subject to the Amerindian Act and their wishes have been respected.

Previously, the neighbourhood Burro-Burro included Upper Burro-Burro, Right Bank Rupununi/Yupukari, Right Bank Surama, Left Bank Mauri and Aranaputa, each of which constituted a People’s Co-operative Unit.

Subject to the order, which was dated May 30th, 2018, the new six-member Aranaputa/ Upper Burro-Burro NDC will have administrative responsibility for Upper Burro-Burro and Aranaputa, while the 12 member Annai NDC will have administrative power over Right Bank Rupununi/Yupukari, Right Bank Surama and Left bank Mauri.

Before the division, Region Nine had only one local government area—Lethem—which was subject to local government elections.