UNC: Aldermen next week

On Wednesday the UNC delayed the swearing-in of councillors on two councils in areas hard-hit by flooding.

UNC PRO Anita Haynes said leaders and aldermen for Trinidad’s seven UNC-controlled local councils will be sworn in next week.

She told Newsday that this week the UNC was first swearing in all its elected councillors, and the rest would follow.

Asked who would lead the Sangre Grande and Chaguanas councils, Haynes laughed and said, “Everybody is asking about that. The UNC has a process and we will abide by that.”

She said she has seen much speculation as to who would be chosen as council leaders.

On Monday, the UNC swore in five members of the Sangre Grande council, snatched from the PNM in the December 2 local polls. A UNC statement attributed the win to “the party's ability to listen, focus and provide a proper plan of development” for the area.

On Tuesday the UNC-run Siparia council was sworn in, with three returning members and three new members, including Jason Ali ,who ousted the PNM in Siparia West/ Fyzabad. The Princes Town and Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo councils were also sworn in that day, Newsday learnt.

A UNC statement on Tuesday said all candidates who did not win would act as the party's shadow councillors, not just in Sangre Grande but across Trinidad, to ensure true representation in all districts. The party will soon hold training sessions for councillors to get their districts working again in line with the UNC's National Economic Transformation Master Plan.

UNC deputy leader Khadijah Ameen told Newsday the Chaguanas and Penal/Debe councils were supposed to have been sworn on Wednesday but heavy rainfall had led to flooding in some of those areas, so the councillors-elect had to help their burgesses.

“The party has mandated that all boots are on the ground. All councillors are out and about responding to the flood. So we will reschedule those swearings-in.”

Ameen said UNC councillors on the Mayaro/Rio Claro council will be sworn in on the same day as their aldermen, whenever summoned by the council CEO.

Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein had declared that PNM councillors across the country were to be sworn in last Monday, as happened at the PNM-run Port of Spain council.

Ameen said the lone PNM councillor at Mayaro/Rio Claro had been sworn in on Monday.