EMPHASISING the need for local government reform, Agriculture Minister Kazim Hosein showed his radical side as he confessed to protesting against his father, Rakeeb Hosein, who was then mayor of San Fernando, while the younger Hosein was a trade unionist.
Hosein explained that as a checker working with the San Fernando City Corporation and a shop steward with the representing trade union, he had called for his father to go.
He told the story from the People’s National Movement (PNM) platform in Siparia on Tuesday night, when candidates for the regions of Penal/Debe, Siparia and Point Fortin were introduced.
“I served as a shop steward in the late Owen Hinds' Contractors and General Workers' Trade Union (CGWTU).
"I may not look aggressive," he added, "but when I had to get on like that, I would make noise.
“Because of this same (need for) local government reform, we could not get funding. We (the union) planned a protest, and I had a placard in my hand, in front of City Hall, San Fernando, saying, 'The mayor must go.'
“The mayor was my father, but I was serious. When you in the union, you had to stand by what you say. He had to go.”
He elicited laughter from the audience, which included the Prime Minister, as he sheepishly admitted, “Now, I could not go home that night.”
He said his mother had to let him in through the back door without his father knowing.
“I hid from my father for days.
"I speak of my experience because that is what we had to go through. In local government, you have to beg for what you want, and it shouldn’t be so. Councillors work very hard and don’t get the recognition, don’t get the funding. It is not possible for them to execute the work they promised.”
He said Rowley had promised in 2015 to reform local government to deliver a modern system with greater autonomy and accountability, improved governance and administrative structures, secured funding, more effective and efficient delivery of goods and services, balanced and sustainable local economic development, robust monitoring and evaluation to ensure value for money, and greater citizenry and civil-society participation.
As a former councillor, mayor and Rural Development and Local Government (RDLG) Minister, Hosein said he was passionate about local government and supported any progressive move towards its upliftment, such as conferring borough status on Siparia.
He congratulated it on achieving that status and applauded and identified several past councillors who were instrumental in advocating for a change in status in 2019, during his tenure as RDLG Minister.
He identified Christopher Encinas, the mover of the motion, and Gerald Debisette, who seconded the motion, with approval from all the other councillors on both government and opposition sides.
“For you, the people of Siparia who were born and raised in this municipality, you should be very proud. Now you can boast of residing in a borough with the second highest number of businesses in the southern region.
“This title will bring greater recognition
