National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) head Lionel Wordsworth is denying that there is any financial impropriety involved in $200 million being unaccounted for, as investigations continue and the two officials embroiled in the mismanagement of the money remain off the job.
In January, this newspaper had reported that a coordinator and supervisor of the NDIA’s Community Drainage and Irrigation Project (CDIP) were sent on administrative leave after it was discovered during an audit that the sum could not be accounted for.
Wordsworth told Stabroek News recently that investigations into the matter are ongoing and he added that these involve the evaluation of all the records and other data of the projects under the CDIP. He said it is a nationwide sweep which involves the collection of all relevant data.
Wordsworth maintained that there was no financial impropriety regarding the project but rather that the CDIP needed to be restructured.
He said the investigations into the management of the programme will be completed soon, adding that the relevant reports will be submitted to the authorities following which a course of action will be taken.
Auditor General Deodat Sharma told Stabroek News last week that the records of the NDIA, including those which fall under the CDIP, are currently being audited. He said auditors will be carrying out nationwide checks of all records of the entity. He said too that there is a significant number of workers employed by the entity at Linden.
Wordsworth stated last month during an outreach at Buxton that the project will in future be carried out under the purview of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in order to root out corrupt practices and dishonesty among workers.
He told Stabroek News recently that the entire exercise is also aimed at “bringing more operational efficiency to the project”. He said the process is ongoing and the supervision aspect of the project will soon be handed over to the NDCs.
Wordsworth said the move to have the NDC overlook the project is being undertaken throughout the country, however in areas such as Region One, the Community Development Officer (CDO) attached to the Regional Administration will overlook the programme’s agenda.
A source at the Agriculture Ministry told Stabroek News recently that the there were several loopholes within the programme’s framework which made it easy for monies to go unaccounted. He said the main issue at hand was late payments and according to him, in the more populated regions such as Region Four, there were limited mechanisms in place to determine where monies are spent. He said workers attached to the CDIP were being hired by “middlemen” such as the foremen and according to him, this provided avenues for misappropriation of the funds.
A worker attached to the programme told Stabroek News recently that in many instances workers are made to wait for a number of weeks before they can receive their payments. He said that this can be taxing, noting that persons are paid more than a month after their previous pay date.
The CDIP was unveiled by the NDIA as a project aimed at ensuring the upkeep and maintenance of tertiary and community level drainage/irrigation infrastructure. Under the project, critical internal canals are being kept clear in communities so as to allow for the free flow of water when heavy rains fall. The project focuses on D&I issues in all the administrative regions, except regions 8 and 9.
The project has created jobs for a number of persons and has contributed to improvement in the drainage system in 54 NDCs, four Town Councils and 46 areas, according to the NDIA. In addition, the CDIP workers, who total more than 2,800, have been coordinating their efforts with the NDCs and RDCs.
The project started in 2008 with a $50 million allocation from the government via the Ministry of Finance. Following a two-year period, the project was restructured under the Ministry of Agriculture, and the then minister, Robert Persaud, expanded the operational aspect of the programme on a larger scale where more than 400 persons were employed.
Last month, the NDIA said it was verifying its community workers to regularise their employment and to stamp out corruption, including the inflation of payment sheets. Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture Ali Baksh and Wordsworth made the disclosure during a meeting with workers attached to offices at Foulis, Buxton, Friendship, Enterprise and Strathspey, on the East Coast Demerara.
Wordsworth said steps were being taken for the imminent implementation of CDIP, beginning with the national verification of all workers. “…This entails going to the communities to verify the individuals… in doing so we will compile a database of NDIA workers along with their employment track record and bank account numbers for payments,” he said.
