Even as the opposition condemns the government’s removal of some Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC), the ministry of local government and regional development has gone ahead and replaced personnel and last week advertised for more overseers.
In an advertisement in the Guyana Chronicle last week, the ministry advertised for 13 overseers to fill positions at the Port Kaituma/Matthews Ridge/Arakaka NDC in Region 1; Good Hope/Pomona NDC in Region 2; Mora/Parika NDC; Stewartville/Cornelia Ida NDC, Best Klien Pouderoyen NDC, and Toevlugt/Patentia NDC in Region 3; Little Diamond/Herstelling NDC, Ramsburg/Eccles NDC and Enmore/Hope NDC in Region 4; Profit/Rising Sun NDC in Region 5; and the Port Mourant/John NDC, and No 52/No 74 NDC in Region 6.
The ad said that persons must be at least 25 years and over, in good health, be computer literate and good interpersonal/communication skills would be an asset. Other requirements include obtaining five subjects at CXC including English and Mathematics as well as a valid police clearance while previous experience in local government would be an asset. All applications should be addressed to the permanent secretary of the ministry.
Meantime, the ministry also advertised for 17 assistant overseers to fill positions at the Hydronie/Good Hope NDC, Malgre Tout/Meer Zorgen NDC, and La Grange/Nismes NDC in Region 3; the Caledonia/Good Success NDC, Golden Grove/Diamond Place NDC, Little Diamond/Herstelling NDC, Better Hope/LBI NDC, Beterverwagting/Truimph NDC and the Haslington/Golden Grove NDC in Region 4; the Mahaicony/Abary NDC, Woodlands/Bel Air NDC and Zeelugt/Rosignol NDC in Region 5; and in Region 6 the Enfield/New Doe, Port Mourant/John, Bloomfield/Whim, Black Bush Polder, and Good Hope/No 51 NDCs.
Over the past several months, the government has removed several NDC’s and replaced them with Interim Management Committees (IMCs), in some cases, despite the vehement protests of residents. The main opposition, APNU has criticized these moves and called for the swift holding of local government elections.
The ministry has also come under criticism for transferring overseers, some to districts where they do not reside. Opposition Leader David Granger had called on President Donald Ramotar to halt the arbitrary transfers. In a statement, he had said that he wrote to Ramotar pointing out that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and members of several NDCs are “deeply concerned about the arbitrary transfer of their duly appointed overseers to areas outside of the jurisdiction of their NDC by the Minister of Local Government or his officials, without any consultation with them.”
Granger said that the result of the Minister’s action is that confusion has been created among Councils, the communities they represent and the political partners of APNU, particularly the People’s National Congress Reform. The statement said that overseers affected by the Minister’s arbitrary decision are likely to suffer “grave inconvenience and financial loss because of their assignments to areas far from where they reside and to areas with which they are not familiar.”
The statement had said that APNU does not believe that the law permits the Minister of Local Government to exercise such authority in the absence of specific recommendations from the relevant NDC. “It would be unwise, even if the Minister had such authority, to take such a drastic step without consulting the NDCs that were elected by their constituency”, the statement declared.
Illusion
Granger said that the Minister’s public pronouncement suggests that he is under the illusion that the overseers hired through the NDC with his approval are the staff of the Ministry of Local Government. “Such a notion is very dangerous to the development of local democracy in Guyana. It emphasises the urgent need for the completion of Local Government reform as contained in the recommendations of the Local Government Task Force”, the statement had added. Granger had called on Ramotar to halt the Minister’s action and to discuss the issue in order to arrive at an acceptable outcome.
Region Four Chairman Clement Corlette had also objected to the transfer of overseers in the region and wrote to Minister of Local Government Ganga Persaud requesting a meeting on the “arbitrary transfer” of overseers within the region’s NDCs. He said “Region 4 is concerned that the actions of your Ministry seems to be high-handed, void of salient reasons, is being carried out without reference to views” of the RDC.
However, officials have said that the rotation of the NDC overseers has been done within the legal framework. At a recent press conference, Persaud, along with Minister in the Ministry, Norman Whittaker and Permanent Secretary Collin Croal, said the Local Government System over the last few months has been enmeshed in reforms. As a result there has been some rotation of Regional Executive Officers (REOs,) Regional Engineers and NDC overseers.
Persaud said the ministry had sought legal advice from the Attorney General Anil Nandlall. “We were assured that the minister has acted in keeping with the legal framework and that there is no issue as it regards to the minister’s authority vested in the legislation,” Persaud said, according to the Government Information Agency. Persaud added that the ministry would have also received correspondence from persons concerned at the rotation. Persaud said that “no overseer will receive less benefit than he/she would have been receiving prior to the rotation”.
