I am a teacher, and the audit report for Region Two stated that I was overpaid an extra month’s salary in 2006 while I was attached to the Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary School.
Last year I received a call from a Senior Personnel Officer from the administrative office of the Regional Democratic Council Region Two, informing me of the overpayment which had been made into the bank, and asking to meet with me to make arrangements for the repayment of the said money. I informed the officer that during the period in question I was only physically in Region Two, but was officially attached to North West Secondary School, Region One and had been seconded to Johanna Cecelia Com-munity High School and then on further secondment to Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary School. She was further informed that I was still being paid in cash by the administration of Region One, hence my name should not have surfaced on any financial document in Region Two as this relates to salaries for 2006.
After weeks of waiting and assurance that the issue would be investigated, I called the said officer and the audit officer. On not receiving the information I expected, I informed both officers that I would be visiting their office with the media. To my surprise less than thirty minutes later on that said day I received a call from a senior official stating that they had checked the pay sheets for 2006 and had visited the Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary School and verified that I was not paid by the region.
She further informed me that the case was closed and the administration, along with the Audit Office would formally write apologizing for any inconvenience caused.
After another wait, I visited the officers and requested to see the source documents that they used to arrive at their conclusion, and also to possibly receive the letter that was promised.
Yet I was told the case was closed, it was only on my visit to the office that the Chief Accountant in the region was made aware of the situation. Consequently, I was made another promise after we together checked and verified the Payment Ledger which stated that the last time I was paid in the region was September of 2000. The officers along with the Chief Accountant stated that they would meet with the Regional Executive Officer to deliberate on the issue after which I would hear from them before the end of August.
Sad to say in September I was still awaiting the promised response from the administration. My wish at this point is for them to deal with this issue with the same amount of enthusiasm displayed when they first contacted me seeking repayment of the money.
I also wish that a formal investigation would be launched so that this issue could be quickly resolved preventing the reappearance of my name on any other audit reports.
Yours faithfully,
S Blackman
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Regional Executive Officer, Mr Sunil Singh for any comment he might wish to make, and received no response.
