New mayor: Sando to get boardwalk

San Fernando City Corporation councillors have elected two new aldermen as Dr Navi Muradali presided over his first statutory meeting yesterday as mayor at its City Hall chambers on Harris Promenade. Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh and Therese Johanna Andrews were elected unanimously by six out of nine councillors.

The other three councillors—Gloria Calliste, Anthony Ramkissoon and Errol Sinanan — were absent. Muradali said Mowlah-Baksh and Andrews would be sworn in on August 8. He added that all further posts, including the deputy mayor, would be elected after the swearing-in ceremony, which will begin from 9.30 am.

The mayor told the new aldermen they must work with him to make San Fernando a green city. He also said a boardwalk project would start at the end of the year as one of the city’s “legacy projects.” As part of his green campaign, Muradali said a paper, plastic and glas recycling project had been launched with the group Recycling in Motion (RIM) and the Solid Waste Management Company of T&T.

“We are applying to the Green Fund to create green parks in the city, equipped with solar lighting and with materials made from recycled material,” Muradali said. He added he also would enforce laws regarding the maintenance of private overgrown vacant lots by serving clean-up orders to owners. He said: “Within 14 days we will be taking owners to court if they do not comply.”

He also said dozens of illegal signs have been removed in the Gulf View area. “We also will begin placement of bins along the commercial districts in the city before the end of August. Within two weeks we also will begin a major drain clean-up exercise in the Marabella and Cocoyea/Tarouba areas,” Muradali added.

Among the projects scheduled for completion are the public convenience project at King’s Wharf, the temporary market at Marabella, opening up of Short Street, the Circulart Road building, the Carib Street complex and the Harris Promenade beautification project.

Mowlah-Baksh, a former Les Efforts/La Romaine councilor, who served on the San Fernando City Corporation from 1999 to 2006, works as the deputy director of the Community Development Fund. Andrews is the public affairs co-ordinator of the Youth Training Empowerment Programme of T&T. Mowlah-Baksh said she looked forward to working with the new mayor, adding the completion of the boardwalk was close to her heart.