Tajammul Gurmani
Mayor of Rochdale Faisal Rana has said that after becoming Mayor of Rochdale, he invited diplomats from ten countries and encouraged them to invest in Rochdale. This initiative will create new opportunities for investment, businesses and employment. He was talking to a group from the Pakistani community at Rochdale Town Hall.
Talking about the local elections, Faisal Rana said that in the recent election, his wife lost by a margin of only nine votes, while she had served as a councillor for five years. Thirteen Labour councillors lost their seats in Rochdale. At present, there are 31 Labour councillors and 29 opposition councillors, while the Labour Party is in power by just one vote. The Workers Party has four councillors, who belong to our community. However, they are all young councillors who have been elected. Young people need to come forward in politics.
He said Prime Minister Andy Burnham is doing good work. He said that he is not in favour of nationalisation, and the government’s role is to provide investment opportunities, not to run businesses.
To a query about the shortage of homes, he said, “Rochdale faces housing problems and the planning process needs to be made easier. There are delays in applications. Rochdale needs 800 new homes every year, but houses are expensive and people can’t afford to buy the new homes.” Talking about the investment and business opportunities, he said he is inviting foreign investment to Rochdale. For this purpose, he visited Germany with a ten-member delegation to the town of Bielefeld, which is Rochdale’s twin town. He said that a business warehouse facility will be provided at Atom Valley to create new business opportunities in Rochdale. The Consul General of China also visited Rochdale, and he expressed interest in investment. He has invited diplomats from ten countries, including Spain, China and Japan, to visit Rochdale and encouraged them to invest in the town. The council has purchased the Wardle Mill building, where apartments and a business centre will be established. Rochdale has ideal opportunities for education, and the Sixth Form College is number one.
“Work on road projects is continuing, but residents complain about traffic problems, which affect the road infrastructure work. The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Bev Craig, has provided £5 million, which will be spent on development projects. Rochdale Council has a 25 percent share in Manchester Airport, but the council is not receiving funds, even though Manchester Airport is earning £433 million from parking alone. Rochdale Council should receive a share of this profit,” he added. Talking about the employment problem in Rochdale, he said there is a shortage of jobs. There are 3,500 people employed by Rochdale Council, which is providing the largest number of jobs. Due to the job crisis, most people travel to Manchester for work. Young people are studying medicine and going to Australia, where jobs with higher salaries are available. Even my children also wished to move there, but he has advised them to work in the UK.
Discussing about the crime situation, he said, “Rochdale is very peaceful. He first came to Rochdale after arriving in the UK. He lived here for 28 years, but only once did someone ask him to ‘Go back’ to your country.” He said that new mosques are being built here and church buildings are being converted into mosques. Once, someone said that after some time mosques would become deserted, but our elders keep the mosques active. He complained that the media presents a very negative image of Rochdale and publishes too much bad news, which he said has political reasons. Crime should be condemned and grooming gangs should be punished. Some parties are doing the politics of hate and division, which should be avoided.
The delegation included Gulzar Khan, Nasrallah Khan Moghal, Mehboob Elahi Butt, Sufi Muhammad Hussain, Tajammul Gurmani, Saifur Rehman, Samuel Jacob and Parvez Masih. After the meeting, the delegation visited different parts of the Town Hall and took photographs with the mayor. The delegation also recorded their comments in the visitors’ book.
