Parliamentary representative for South Central Windward Saboto Caesar wants to ensure that members of his constituency ring in the New Year,{{more}} having been given the opportunity to appraise him of any issue they may have.

To achieve this goal, the Minister has initiated a constituency open day each Thursday and Friday of the week, where persons may have dialogue with him on matters of health, education, agriculture and poverty alleviation.

The South Windward constituency open day got underway yesterday at the North Union market and ran from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Born and raised in the constituency, Caesar said he is aware of some of the issues affecting residents; hence he is affording residents the opportunity to relate their individual struggles to him on a one-on-one basis.

“It is really an excellent exercise and show that we are a democratic country and we value the freedom of expression and the freedom of speech and in order to have good governance, you have to create the mechanism where you can obtain the requisite information from the people in order to serve the people,” Caesar told SEARCHLIGHT.

According to the Minister, the South Windward constituency open day is the first of its kind to be held in that particular area.

He further noted that although politicians have close relations with their constituencies, sometimes there is a discord and distance between the representative and the people.

“So, this open day is really seen as a way of enhancing the representation, because sometimes it’s not everyone will be able to know where the representative is at a particular time. But when you have an open day for two days where persons can come in and speak on issues that are touching their lives, things they may want to see change or things they would want to see addressed,” he added.

The constituency open day will not be a short term initiative, Caesar informed SEARCHLIGHT.

“This is definitely not going to be a one off shot. We expect to have it twice per quarter.”

He also gave the assurance that discussions between himself and members of the constituency will be confidential.

“We will be setting up a secretariat, because the comments will be recorded and will be dealt with on an individual basis in a very systematic way.

“It is open to every resident in South Central Windward and that is why we are not going to have it at a political party office, because, as the area representative, I have responsibility to ensure that all the matters affecting the people of that constituency are addressed,” Caesar further stated. (AA)