The Committee of Supply last night approved proposed budget allocations for regions 8 and 9 to the tune of $150.7 million and $279.4 million, respectively, despite concerns over whether the size of the expenditure reflected the will of the regional administrations.
Both allocations were approved without cuts. AFC MP Moses Nagamootoo asked whether the allocations for Region 8 had been based on consultations with the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), inclusive of the chairman and the councillors.
Minister of Local Government Ganga Persaud said that there had been consultation with the RDC and that it made submissions to the Ministry of Finance with regards to the budget and the allocations meant for that region.
Nagamootoo then asked whether the submissions made came from the chairman and the councillors of the region or whether those submissions came from the government-appointed Regional Executive Officer (REO), who had a motion of no-confidence passed against him.
“Elected representatives are being bypassed and this makes a mockery of democracy,” said Nagamootoo.
In response, the minister said that the estimates in the budget are those which would have been submitted through a process of engagement of all in the region and he pointed out that the RDC played a role in the process.
“We can go and ask the people there if the allocations in the budget would not make their lives better,” Persaud said. He pointed out that the submissions by the RDC were made since the middle of last year and undertook to provide the opposition with supporting documentation.
Posing a question from the government benches, Presidential Adviser Gail Teixeira asked whether the submissions were signed by the regional chairman and the REO. To this, Persaud said that the submissions had to be signed by the accounting officer and not necessarily the chairman.
APNU MP Carl Greenidge asked whether the RDC looked at the monies allocated under each sub-head and which the Ministry of Finance would have approved. The minister confirmed that the Ministry of Finance would not have approved the monies in a block manner.
APNU MP and member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Volda Lawrence pointed out that Region 8 has always had a problem with accountability and said that the Auditor General’s report for 2011 pointed out instances of overpayment to contractors for works. “What is being done to ensure officers are surcharged for such occurrences?” she asked.
In response, Persaud said Region 8 is a very difficult region in which to execute infrastructure works because of the terrain, which makes it difficult to move material. He said too that the ministry is working to strengthen its monitoring and evaluation capacity in the region.
Jaipaul Sharma of APNU asked whether an REO was dismissed for signing off as complete a contract for which no work was done, as was discovered upon a physical verification.
However, Persaud said that the ministry has not received any report from the PAC which would guide the ministry as to the answers proffered by that region’s accounting officer in the consideration of that region’s accounts. “Our ministry stands ready to act,” Persaud said, adding that the errant REO’s contract came to an end and it was not renewed.
During the considerations of the allocations for Region 9, APNU MP and community development activist Sydney Allicock asked whether the ministry has enough staff to manage the expansive region. Persaud said that the region has adequate staff and noted that the staff members were competent.
Asked about the adequacy of funds budgeted for security in the region, the minister said what was asked for was provided. He, however, noted the difficulties that the security provider has in recruiting persons to work in the region.
Asked about the adequacy of agricultural personnel in the region, Persaud said that capacity in this area comes from the Ministry of Agriculture. He said too that training is also given by the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) to personnel in the region.
Basil Williams of APNU had a concern that the $62.5 million allocated for meals was for cassava bread and peanut butter only and wanted to know if this was all that the students got in terms of meals. Persaud, with the help of Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, explained that this was not all that the students would be given.
