In between raising three children, nurturing her 20-year marriage, completing three degrees and running her own business, Najila Elias-Samlalsingh somehow found the time to work as an advocate for her community. As founder of the St Joseph Village Residents' Association, she assisted the area in widening its streets, improving drainage, implementing street lights and fostering a community spirit through neighbourhood functions for children. Now, Elias-Samlalsingh is upping the ante on her community involvement as she bids for a seat in the San Fernando City Corporation as a councillor. The 39-year-old is contesting the Marabella/South Vistabella area in the local government elections on a People's National Movement platform. The former party group head said when the PNM approached just before the general elections she didn't hesitate to serve in a more official capacity.
"I think being a councillor is a very vital role and it is about engaging people and seeing what they want. Any area of my life I could give part of me, I give in whatever way. Whatever good I have gotten in my life why not pass it to someone else?" Saying she makes the time in her busy life to serve the people, Elias-Samlalsingh said she tries to balance family and her profession with time and good support of her husband, Kirt, her family and in-laws. Apart from her immediate area of residence, she also is heavily involved in her children's schools. "I served on the board of Cedar Grove as vice chairman; I was the sports coordinator; I started the music programme and re-wrote the handbook. I also work with friends of SJC because my daughter now goes there. I believe you have to give back," she said.
Elias-Samlalsingh, who is also a member of the Syrian Lebanese Women's Association, credits her parents Merle and George and her grandparents for setting examples of service. Her father, she said, would give the shirt off his back to help others while her mother sacrificed a lot to give her family what they needed. "My grandparents were also like that. I have a very strong family. I have two sisters and two brothers. We aren't all from the same parents but we grew up very close and that closeness just extended to cousins and aunts. I am blessed with a very supportive family and I married into a supportive family," said Elias-Samlalsingh, mother of Danielle, 13, Justin, 11 and Emily, 6. She also attributed her desire to serve, to the schools she attended.
Born in Couva, Elias-Samlalsingh attended the Exchange Presbyterian School but when her mother took up employment in San Fernando, she transferred to Grant Memorial Presbyterian, eventually passing the then Common Entrance examination for St Joseph's Convent, San Fernando. "The Catholic and Presbyterian schools are all about service. They made sure that was always instilled in me. Convent girls are always serving. Even if they are just home makers, they do it well," she said, expressing a desire to one day venture into national politics. For now though, her focus is on helping the PNM to retain control over the San Fernando City Corporation and she believes its nine-member slate can do that.
"There are nine highly educated, very vibrant individuals that are going up for the San Fernando City Corporation, all community activists. The slate is very strong," she said, confident that despite the popularity of the People's Partnership, that the electorate would make sure there is balance in the system by voting for the PNM. "You need checks and balances; you can't have all or nothing. You want to have that level of local government being a PNM government to uphold that democracy. You must have a two-party relationship; there is a role for opposition. It's unreasonable and unethical for them to put that to the population that they must win everything." From the walkabouts in her area, Elias-Samlalsingh said the immediate concerns the people want addressed are drainage, mosquitoes and traffic congestion.
"I believe strongly in a community that should be in control and have real power. I want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to get involved in local decision-making. My famous words are engaging and empowering the community."Stating that San Fernando hasn't kept up with the demands placed on it as a city, she said she would like to see the country's second city become a beacon for environmental policies in the country. Holder of a BSc in Zoology and Chemistry, an MPhil in Zoology with a focus on environmental toxicology and a PhD in environmental toxicology, Elias-Samlalsingh said the city should become an environmental community with recycling programmes, an efficient garbage collection system, green spaces, and a public health campaign to eradicate mosquitoes and remove vagrants. She would also like to see more after-school programmes for children who go home to empty houses each day.