Claims by Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud that Region Eight Chairman Mark Crawford and other regional councillors were included in the preparation of the region’s budget were refuted by Crawford who said that neither he nor any of the other councillors had any “part to play in the regional budget submission.”
In a letter carried in Thursday’s Stabroek News, Crawford said that Alliance For Change (AFC) Vice-Chairman Moses Nagamootoo, during the consideration of the budget estimates, had asked Persaud whether the regional budget was a product of consultations including the RDC, the chairman and councillors and was answered in the affirmative by the minister.
“I want to say that the chairman and councillors had no part to play in the regional budget’s submission,” said Crawford in the letter.
Attempts made to contact Persaud on this matter were futile.
Crawford explained that after Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ronald Harsawack submitted the regional budget to the Local Government Ministry, “he [Harsawack] sent a copy to my office to inform me of what he had submitted.”
Crawford said after he received a copy of the budget he sent a letter to the minister explaining that it had been submitted without any input from him and regional councillors.
He said that in the letter he requested a recall of the budget to facilitate his and the other councillors’ input, after which a revised 2013 budget would have been submitted.
However, the chairman said, he was told by the ministry that nothing could be done about the submission date.
He said, “I received a letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government dated the 18th September 2012 informing me that the Minister does not have the authority to change the budget submission date.”
The chairman said his only involvement in the the Region 8 budget included his request to the REO to write to the Minister of Finance asking for an amendment to include a ground storage water tank to upgrade the Salbora water system.
This request, he said, was made on January 21.
“I also wanted the clearing of a plot of land along the Mahdia airstrip,” Crawford said.
In the light of these occurrences Crawford argued that the government refuses to honour the principle of inclusivity, and added that the REO, who was appointed by the PPP/C, continues to bypass his office.
Crawford added that there is a need for a “bottom-up” approach to governing to prevail in the stead of the “top-down” approach which is currently employed.
