For three and a half years since the 2011 general elections Region Eight’s Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and Central Government have been at odds with each other with the former accusing the latter of ghost contracts and lack of financial accountability.
Region Eight’s RDC is chaired by an Alliance For Change (AFC) nominee after the party teamed up in 2011 with APNU to defeat the ruling PPP/C’s candidate. The ongoing feud since has pitted the RDC against the Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ronald Harsawack who was appointed by the Local Government Ministry.
In an interview last week with Stabroek News in the mainly mining township of Mahdia, RDC Chairman Mark Crawford elaborated, “for the longest time I haven’t received finance reports.” He added “I noticed discrepancies in the Auditor General reports over the years, multiple times and asked,” but there has been little feedback.
He said that when feedback is provided information is missing and no answers are provided. Crawford stated that millions are being spent on road and bridge rehabilitation with discrepancies throughout.
A seven-mile stretch of the road leading out of the town from the Nursery School was never done although a contract was paid out for $9.7 million. The road was finally resurfaced after it became known that money was already paid out.
Stabroek News asked Crawford for the financial statements, but he said that he could not provide them in their entirety because the information being disseminated from the REO’s office were severely lacking when it came to how money was being spent, how much of the allocated sums were being spent and where the leftover money was.
“When we ask for a breakdown for the finance committee to break it down the REO is reluctant,” Crawford stated.
Crawford said that he was most disappointed that comprehensive large scale projects were ignored by the central government. He noted that the $111M Bartica Potaro Access Road has not even been addressed. “These roads have been abandoned and neglected by this government,” Crawford charged.
Most recently, he said, unilateral moves by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission to fix portions of the road were based on “election gimmicks.”
The RDC Chairman stated that it the government was looking at the economic situation of the mining region and the position that Mahdia is in geographically, addressing the access roads would have been a priority since 2011 and not now being raised in the wake of an election.
“This is the trend. All we are receiving are promises,” Crawford said. He remains optimistic however, telling Stabroek News that councillors remain extremely committed and that within the last three years he believes that due to the diligence of the various public committees, corruption has been minimized. He noted that he believes the people of the region see the work being done by the RDC and know that members of the RDC from all the political parties are asking questions and pressing for receipts.
Documentation seen by Stabroek News from one of the councillors in Region Eight highlighted a variety of allocated sums for ongoing projects as well as the awarded sum but not the sums remaining.
Oswald Junor, an APNU councilman said a contract for repairs to the Princeville School
fence was awarded in 2011 with a budget of $2.4 million. He said that the project itself wasn’t completed until councillors raised the issued at which point the awarded sum of $1.97 million was revealed to have already been paid out.
Junor said “this is one ghost contract” highlighting that since the REO Administration did not provide up-to-date records to the RDC it was an uphill task to monitor the spending in the region. He said that $1.95 million was awarded for general repairs for the same school in 2012, and once again the budget as later revealed to be $2.3 million
“General repairs for the Micobie bridge was over $4 million. They paid over $3 million right here, it’s right here. Where is the rest of the money? Where is that?” Junor asked. He said he was frustrated to be on the Public Works Committee yet none of the councillors’ inputs were being taken seriously by the REO’s office.
“If you put forward a recommendation the REO doesn’t respond,” Junor said. He said that the councillors were on the committee to have accountability and to inspect the various projects and it was sometimes dependent on word of mouth or residents calling saying work was being done in a particular area before the APNU and AFC councillors were notified.
AFC councillor Mohamed Gafoor
charged that small scale projects were being done for ulterior reasons. He noted a guard hut for the community centre and school compound in Mahdia were rehabilitated to the tune of $500,000. “This was for a repair you know, $500,000 for it to be repaired for a concrete founda-tion,” Gafoor said continuing that the guard still complains of the leaking roof.
Stabroek News visited the sites of various bridges that had contracts paid out by the REO Administration that were not being used because the construction was poorly done, the wood was rotten and one was constructed approximately 500 feet away from the road it was supposed to service.
Gafoor said the roads were deplorable in Mahdia but the roads to traverse the region to get to other villages and towns were far worse. He said local businessmen had offered to grade sections of local roads and sections of roads immediately on the outskirts of the township however, the REO had denied the request.
Travel within Region Eight is “treacherous,” Gafoor stated. He said money was being allocated and wasted. He said the spending on these projects was creating conditions under which funds could be siphoned off.
The councillor told Stabroek News that portions of Campbell Town, adjacent to Mahdia are without power. He said the region has appealed for electrification of areas that are without power considering their close vicinity to Mahdia Power and Light (MPL).
He noted that councillors wanted money allocated and spent in areas that needed to be spent instead of on “ghost contracts.”
Stabroek News was informed that currently the MPL has three generators. One is currently down, the large one is only operational on Sundays and holidays and the smallest generator is only operable at 50%.
This newspaper was informed that bureaucracy has stalled the electrification of Campbell Town while the rest of the serviced area receives power 18 hours a day from 12:00 to 07:00 hrs.
Additionally, documentation seen by Stabroek News showcased that the REO’s office was delinquent in over $11 million worth of payments throughout 2013 and 2014, but none of the entities involved were ever cut off.
Regional Executive Officer Harsawack denied knowledge of this stating that he had never received anything from MPL. However, a letter was addressed to him by name and sent on April 9, 2014.
Stabroek News had reached out to Harsawack prior to Wednesday for an interview, however it was not until Friday while he was seeing off President Donald Ramotar from the Mahdia airstrip after a party rally that this newspaper was able to speak with him.
Harsawack downplayed the complaints of the RDC and the councillors, stating that it was politics at play. He denied knowledge of contracts being paid without work being done and stated that he was not aware of the delinquent road rehabilitation and faulty bridge construction.
He said that the Region Administration has always been given the power of the purse within the region and that the RDC was not in control of the finances. He expressed frustration stating that he too was at times overwhelmed by the bureaucracy, citing that while getting things done in Georgetown may take a week, given the vastness of Region Eight and the issues with transportation the same actions took significantly longer such as school rehabilitation projects.
Stabroek News was informed by a PPP/C councillor who wishes to remain anonymous that the social dynamics within Mahdia and surrounding areas were not being addressed and that the lack of a welfare officers compounded these issues.
Lack of job creation results in a large amount of teenage pregnancy and prostitution this newspaper was told. The political dynamic and the lack of inclusion of the RDC in the decision making process by the Regional Administration was seen by many as a hindrance to finding resolutions.
