APNU MP Ronald Bulkan has condemned the installation of an interim management council at the Bartica NDC and the man who headed the body for 17 years said that the change was made stealthily by the government.
Without notice, without publicizing the outcome of the Commission of Enquiry, the dissolution of the Bartica Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and the installation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) last Thursday were quietly done.
“We din even know that the people were coming,” said Gerald Joseph, the former chairman of the NDC. “We din expect that they would do what they do.”
The dissolution of the NDC and the installing of the IMC has drawn the ire of APNU and Bulkan, the party’s spokesman on Local Government and Regional Development, yesterday denounced the “undemocratic” move when contacted by Stabroek News. “There can be no justification or explanation why five months into 2012 the government is dissolving NDCs when they should be focusing their energies and resources to hold local government elections,” Bulkan told Stabroek News. “Their actions are sinister and unhelpful and does not reflect good on them,” he said.
APNU controls the Region Seven Regional Democratic Council and Bulkan declined comment on the presence of its Chairman Gordon Bradford at the swearing-in of the IMC saying that he has not been able to speak with him. Attempts to contact Bradford were futile and Stabroek News was told that he was travelling in the Mazaruni.
An enquiry in March at which Stabroek News was present saw Bartica residents speaking largely in favour of the NDC and calling instead for local government elections. Throughout the inquiry, residents said they found that the NDC had acted transparently. They deemed the councillors and NDC in general as considerate and several said that the petition which was sent to the minister was not factual. Twenty residents had signed a petition requesting an inquiry into the NDC and its dissolution.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) last week reported that the decision to disband the council and install an IMC came following a recommendation of the Commission of Enquiry.
Joseph said he has not been informed of the outcome of the Enquiry. “We were never informed officially of anything,” he said. He said that they learned that Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud was going to Bartica on Friday for the flag-raising ceremony for Independence Day and also heard whispers that on his agenda was the installation of an IMC. Joseph said that they wanted to inform the residents of Bartica of this development but on Tuesday evening the town experienced power failures and on Wednesday, the TV station suffered a blackout.
He said that when Persaud arrived in Bartica, a meeting was held at the Regional Democratic Council building with regional officials and incoming members of the IMC. They then left for the NDC building. “He walk into the office, dissolve the council and install the IMC,” recalled Joseph. “The minister came here pre-determined to put in an IMC,” he said.
Joseph said that he had received no official word of the outcome of the enquiry or the actions that would be taken after. “Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!” he emphasized. The former Chairman noted that he served the NDC for 17 years, often in the face of adversity. He said that the needs of the growing town outweighed the revenue that was being collected and the Ministry refused to raise rates and taxes. “The whole idea was to prepare us to fail so that they could walk in and do what they want to do,” he said.
Overdue
elections
Meantime, Bulkan recalled yesterday that when Persaud spoke in Parliament earlier this year when the Bill to postpone local government elections was presented, he reiterated the PPP’s 2011 election manifesto promise which was to have these long overdue elections within one year of the General Elections. Local government elections have not been held since 1994. Bulkan denounced the recent “undemocratic” practice. “What the minister has done is unwarranted, unnecessary and undemocratic,” he declared adding that the IMC consists of “PPP acolytes.” APNU has been speaking out against the “surreptitious” removal of NDC’s and installation of IMCs in several areas. In recent times, inquiries have been held at Lethem and Kwakwani.
Personally, Bulkan said that he felt that the government “campaign” of removing NDCs and installing IMCs shows clearly that local government is a casualty of the administration’s “loss of control in Parliament.” He said that APNU and citizens want elections where they can choose their own local leaders. According to him, the intent of government is clear and the administration is using the resources of central government to marginalize and exert pressure on communities that did not vote for them and thereby place them in a disadvantageous position. He noted that the revenue base was not adequate and the government had not allowed it to expand. He said that it was a deliberate policy to starve the NDC of funds to make them look bad.
A point of contention is whether the IMC has the support of Barticians. “Our understanding…is that this action of government does not meet with the approval of the majority of residents,” said Bulkan. On Sunday, the Public Relations Officer for the IMC, Winston Miller told Stabroek News that the IMC has received support from the community. “We’re getting the support from the citizens…the business community has vowed to support us,” he said adding that Regional Chairman Bradford and the Regional Executive Officer have also pledged their full support.
Joseph, referring to the Enquiry meeting, said that it is known that Barticians do not want an IMC but local government elections instead.
He defended the work of the IMC saying that they made the best of the situation. To properly provide services for Bartica, the NDC needed $50 million but revenue was only $18 million, he said. “We had to take some austerity measures to clean up some of these situations.” He noted that there was no increase in the rates and taxes for a number of years even as the town grew rapidly. Their pleas to the government fell on deaf ears, he lamented. “You give your service for 17 years and then you get a boot in your ass,” the former NDC chairman lamented.
