(CMR) Newlands MLA, Alva Suckoo, has announced today the creation of his constituency advisory district council.
The Council held its first official meeting on January 16th. The Council members consist of Mr. Olson Anderson (Chairman), Mr. Raul Gonzales (Deputy Chairman), Mr. Richard Christian (Treasurer), Ms. Mia Powell (Secretary), Mr. Jalon Linton (Member), and Mr. Alfredo Whittaker (Member). The Council has created and adopted its own by-laws and will operate in accordance with the Advisory District Council Law.
The District Council will now begin its work as an advisory body to the Newlands MLA and will focus on Newlands-specific projects, needs and issues and will work with Mr. Suckoo to address them.
The creation of the country’s second district council is significant considering the recent
change to single-member constituencies across the Cayman Islands. Mr. Suckoo said,
“District Councils significantly increase the level of participatory democracy across all
constituencies, and allow members of the electorate to get involved and have a say in what
happens in the community”.
Mr. Suckoo is confident in the composition of the councils’ executive board.
He said,
These individuals are volunteers from Newlands, every one of them reached out to me at some point and offered their service to the community, and I am delighted to be able to work with them. Mr. Anderson is a very capable and driven individual and he has my full confidence as chairman. I am also pleased that Mr. Gonzales and I will be working together, we made that commitment prior to election day, we agreed that whoever won the seat would have the support and assistance of the other. This is not a political body and Mr. Gonzales presence is proof of that, we are working together for the good of the constituency.
The council will now begin working on proposals for district improvements and moving
ahead with developments for Newlands.
Under the law, the council can engage in fundraising to help fund its operation, and the membership will be making this a priority.
While we wait for the Government to decide which direction they want to go regarding district councils, we can operate independently and raise funds to begin work on different initiatives across Newlands. It would be nice to have the support of the Government, but we are not going to wait. There are a number of pressing concerns in the constituency Newlands and we plan to begin tackling them immediately
said, Mr. Anderson.
The Independent MLA, who also serves as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition is the second district to form a district council out of the 19 constituencies. North Side MLA Ezzard Miller has also formed a district council.
Members of the constituency who wish to join the Newlands district council can do so by contacting the Savannah/Newlands MLA by sending an email to [email protected] or calling (345) 945-8087. The office is located at #18 Pedro Castle Road.
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