Once budget is approved REO does not have to go to council to ratify every project execution

Dear Editor,

I refer to a letter recently published in Stabroek News under the heading ‘Region 5 REO often circumvents the authority of the Regional Chairman’ penned by Harry Gill PPP/C Member of Parliament.

I am the Chief Executive Officer of the Region and once the budget is approved by the Regional Democratic Council, it is not incumbent on me to go to the Council again and again to ratify every aspect of my execution of those projects. In any event, since Mr Gill is concerned about my circumvention of the Regional Chairman he should examine and report on how many times in recent months Regional Chairman Ramphal has shown any interest in communities such as Hopetown, and Nos 28 , 29, 30, 40 and 42 villages in West Berbice.

Why did Mr Ramphal allow the only excavator in the Region in 2016 to be located in one NDC for over fourteen months (from 2016 into 2017)? It never did work in any other NDC even though there were NDCs that suffered a greater degree of flooding than the one where it was placed.

Again, the Teacher’s Union had a matter which was a concern to members as far as their perception was concerned, and this was their right.

Mr Gill should understand that conflict resolution cannot be achieved in the conflict zone while the conflict is at its height; the resolution of conflict must be done when the parties withdraw themselves from the conflict zone, as was indeed the case in this instance, which resulted in a non-antagonistic discussion.

I hold also that Mr Wilson is eminently qualified to be the Transport Officer.

I hold also that the issuance of the two motorcycles was done to save them from the destruction which accompanied many others which had been left to rot in a bond due to neglect by the previous dministration. As REO, that is my prerogative.

If Mr Gill were to check the records from 1992 to 2015 he would see that the claim of $80M of over-payments to teachers may actually be an understatement.

He should examine why during the tenure of the previous administration from 1992 to 2015 many of the people who were appointed and promoted to high positions were appointed and promoted even though they didn’t have the minimum qualifications for those positions. Square pegs in round holes existed from 1992-2015 and they are still posing a problem for us to deliver effective and efficient services for the citizens. But I am proud to add that this stigma is not applicable to my staffers, all of whom possess the pre-requisites for giving me the support I need.

With respect to the lands at Naarstigheid that site is the property of the RDC. It was generally an eyesore along the highway. We have the responsi- bility for the clearing and drainage of these properties of the Region. That was not capital expenditure but current, ie related to maintenance.

With respect to the funding of the activities of the Neighborhood Democratic Councils (NDCs), the Chief Accountant has been given the responsibility of putting an accounting system in place in each of the NDCs. I will put my signature to the NDC accounts when that is done.

I am not willing to put my signature all over the place when some Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of certain NDCs, are misusing funds without the authority of the overseer.

Since Mr Gill is concerned about accountability he should take some time to ponder on why during the PPPs tenure they had never sought to establish a Finance Committee of the RDC in Region 5.

Why was a certain security firm allowed to get away with billing both the RDC and the Ministry of Education for security services provided at one institution of learning in Region 5. And I can go on ad nauseam on the many issues on which the now suddenly prolific letter writer Mr Gill was noticeably silent during the tenure of the previous administration.

I assure you that I will of course engage with Mr Gill once he provides valid examples in support of his conclusions (preferably more than one example ) rather than indulge in his penchant for conjuring up sweeping negative generalizations about this Region, which are devoid of supporting facts. Yours faithfully, Ovid Morrison REO Region 5