Dear Editor,
With respect to the letters of Clairmont Lye, ‘There should be an investigation of the distribution of Rupununi flood relief funds,‘ in the November 12 edition of the Stabroek News and ‘Recent distribution of flood relief funds in Lethem should be investigated‘ which also appeared in the Kaieteur News on the same day the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs would like to posit the following:
1. Authenticity of names: The ministry issued money to persons on the list, which it had received from the region. But as in any exercise of this nature omissions may occur. Thus, the ministry subsequently received an additional list of persons prior to departing for Georgetown. That list includes residents from Tabatinga and Culvert City. The ministry is currently reviewing this list.
2. Intention to release: If the writer can recall, in a previous release, the ministry stated that the distribution of the cash relief on November 6 was scheduled to commence at St Ignatius for Central Rupununi and the distribution for Lethem residents was planned for November 7. It is obvious that the ministry brought in the money for this purpose, and was ready to release the money at St Ignatius had everything gone as scheduled. However, many of the Lethem residents who were present at the rally requested that after the event they be given their cash relief. Thus, only the Lethem residents were given their relief there. Officers from the Amerindian Affairs Ministry then travelled to St Ignatius, Quarrie, Moco Moco, Napi and Parishara to distribute the cash relief.
3. Inaccuracy of report: If there were names of non-Lethem residents called on the day of the distribution at Lethem, such was an inadvertent mistake. The fact that Lethem residents were able to express their objections to the names of persons called, as stated by the writer, is explicit proof that indeed Lethem residents requested the release of their flood money.
4. It must be appreciated that the cash relief exercise by the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs commenced on September 23-29 at Karasabai; October 3-7 for North Rupununi and on October 14-21 for South Rupununi (Sub-Districts).
We hope that this clears some of the points raised by Mr Lye. We appreciate the effort of bringing all the aforementioned issues to our attention. However, it must be noted and understood that the cash relief is meant for households who were severely affected by the flood.
Yours faithfully,
Sharon Austin
Office of the Permanent Secretary