New Chairman, Vice Chair elected for CWC

A new Chairman and Vice Chair were elected for the Crabwood Creek Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).
The new Chairman is 53-year-old Valmiki Dilchandr and 40-year-old Wendy DeGoeas is the Vice Chair.

Only recently residents had taken to the streets in protest, calling for the removal of the Chairman, who has been at the helm of the NDC for more than 13 years.
The new Chairman has said that there is not much which needs to be done in the NDC but residents have a different perspective on the issue.
As part of the mandate, NDCs and municipalities are required to have their individual elections for leaders before December 20 each year.
Following his election, Dilchandr said that he is very pleased to be serving the Crabwood Creek Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).
He noted that he will be working in the best interest of the community and needs the supports of all Councillors and residents.

“In Crabwood Creek there is not a lot that has to be done. I think the Government will do new streets but for now, they have to fill the potholes.”
However, the new Chairman’s utterances have come in for some harsh criticism from residents of the area.
One resident, Meena Balchand, said what is needed is residents’ satisfaction. She also questioned the virtual disappearance of an access dam which has been consumed by the canal at Grant 1780.
The residents said that many of the canals need to be cleared. Another resident, Vishal Churaman, said that the new Chairman has to review his statement.

However, the NDC Chairman said that Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP) workers have been working on cleaning the drains in the residential areas. However, the drains along the main access road are maintained by the regional administration.
“That has to be taken care of a little more because the road residents are not having service because the CIIP workers are working only in the back streets,” the Chairman explained.
But residents have also pointed to the fact that street lighting is also a major concern.
That issue, Dilchandr said, is being addressed.

“Lights are only on the public road but we have some lights coming from the Government but that will not be enough because it is only one for each section. There are 28 street lights in the whole of Crabwood Creek. Crabwood Creek is a two-mile range with ten sections, so we have to divide that the best we can, but we accept that until we can do better,” he added.
Dilchandr is also the Vice Chairman of the Crabwood Creek Water Users Association.

Meanwhile, during last week’s protest, residents picketed the NDC office and called for the removal of the then Chairman and Councillors after relations with some sections of the community and the Council had deteriorated. When asked about his approach to addressing the issues that led to the breakdown of the relationship between the previous chair and residents, Dilchandr responded: “That protest was personal issues with the Chairperson so, I don’t see that I will have to improve anything because they just needed a change, that is all they needed.”