New Sando mayor to take oath on Friday

Deputy mayor of San Fernando Dr Navi Muradali will take the oath of office as mayor on Friday in a special public swearing-in ceremony on Harris Promenade. Muradali confirmed the ceremony yesterday as well as the election of two aldermen. The ceremony will take place opposite City Hall on the San Fernando Bandstand. Schools in the area have been invited to send students to be part of the event.

Murdali was selected to replace former mayor Marlene Coudray who was appointed Minister of Gender, Youth and Child Development last Friday when Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced changes to her Cabinet. At 38, Muradali, a father of one, will be among the youngest San Fernando mayors to hold the post in the second city. Muradali said he wanted to have a public swearing-in to demonstrate how he intended to conduct business.

“I think it represents openness and transparency. (Holding it) in the public domain will give residents of the city of San Fernando the opportunity to observe an election of aldermen and the inauguration of a mayor,” he added. Muradali, a medical doctor and a dental surgeon by profession, comes from a political family. His father, Nazim, was a former MP for Naparima.

He declined to comment on Coudray’s tenure as mayor since, he said: “It is really for the people to judge her performance, as they would judge any other elected official.” Muradali said being named mayor is “a very humbling experience and I do hope that I can deliver good governance to the residents of the city of San Fernando.”