Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ronald Harsawack has denied that heavy-duty machinery owned by Region 8 is being used for private work, while official projects are being neglected.
Harsawack’s denial came in response to claims made by Regional Councillor Mohamed Gafoor in Wednesday’s edition of Stabroek News that the machinery was lying idle at a private residence in Mahdia, instead of being used to rehabilitate roads and serve the communities in the region.
“The private residence referred by the councillor is the residence of the contracted heavy-duty mechanic and that of two contracted machine operators,” said Harsawack in a letter published in yesterday’s edition of the Guyana Chronicle. In the letter, he explained that the regional administration does not have the requisite workforce for ‘in house’ operation and maintenance.
He stated that the photograph submitted by Gafoor was taken in July 2014, during the time the mini-excavator, bulldozer and truck were being used to dig several ponds and springs in the community of Campbelltown, as requested by residents. The same machines, according to Harsawack, were used to clear and excavate a spring at the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory. He added that the machines became inoperable on separate occasions and were unable to be moved to the administration’s compound. “Thus [they] were left for repairs at the residence of the heavy-duty mechanic,” Harsawack’s letter said.
“The machines were at no point engaged in any private work, especially carrying water for the REO’s office or his residence,” Harsawack wrote, as he refuted the claim of Gafoor that the machinery was in “private use, while people punish.”
Moreover, the REO stated that the machines, while operable, were engaged in work for the Campbell-town Village Council, which provided fuel and operators, as well as the Mahdia and Princeville roads as requested by commuters and vendors of the Arcade at Mahdia for the delivery of sand owed to them by the previous administration. “The truck and excavator will be fully operable shortly, as major repairs were done in November and December 2014…,” Harsawack said.
Additionally, the REO said he, the regional administration and residents were eagerly awaiting funding for two major projects, which will see the construction of roads at Mahdia and the construction of a new water system, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE). The projects are expected to commence shortly, according to him, as the bills of quantities for both projects were prepared by the Public Works Department and submitted. “The administration continues to pursue the MNRE,” Harsawack added.
Returning to Gafoor, Harsawack said, “This councillor has never used his office to engage the regional administration in any form to provide any proposals or suggestions whether orally or in writing or to pinpoint any issues of regional importance,” though others do.
He said while he appreciates the fact that “the councillor” or any resident has the right to bring issues to the forefront, “I would hope that is done in a factual and balanced way.”
Harsawack also expressed his displeasure that little or no mention was made by Gafoor about the $42 million the administration spent in 2014 on roads in Region 8, or the hundreds of millions spent by the MNRE and the Ministry of Public Works and Communication to bring the Linden-Mahdia route to the best state that it has ever been to date.
He added that no mention is made by Gafoor about the continued vandalism and destruction of the water supply system by rogue miners. He said that within the previous ten days, repairs were done four times to the distribution line after it was vandalised by those who use the water network to propel jets that are used to mine the access roads in the area.
Harsawack said, “These are all issues that the administration would like the councillors to pay attention to and voice their concerns, but to no avail.” He claimed that it was only when his name was involved that issues were taken to the media or used for political expediency.
Gafoor and other councillors from Region 8 had voiced concern at the alleged “private” use of regional property, while rehabilitation works in the area were at a standstill.
