Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Nine Claire Singh was on Monday sent on leave by the Ministry of Communities and APNU+AFC campaigner Carl Parker, who is also an APNU councillor on the present Regional Democratic Council (RDC), is now the acting REO.
Singh confirmed to Stabroek News yesterday that she received a letter on Monday afternoon instructing her to proceed on 42 days leave, to which she is entitled, and she complied. “I had some leave outstanding and I was told to proceed on this leave and to hand over to Mr Parker and I complied,” she said.
Parker told this newspaper that his position is temporary until the new administration appoints REOs in the various regions when new members of the RDCs are sworn in.
According to Parker, the move by the ministry was necessary since there were “things happening…,” which prompted him to inform Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan.
He said in one case the police were called in and a tractor was briefly detained until it was verified that it was being taken to a village to be used.
Apart from this, Parker also said that there has been a “mad rush” to identify persons to be Toshaos in the various villages in Region Nine and to fill the councils with persons close to the former PPP/C administration. Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs Sydney Allicock was forced to put a hold on this development.
Parker also said following the May 11th elections, an officer in the region was engaged in the mass distribution of house lots and again he was forced to inform the ministry, which instructed that this process should be stopped.
However, he said after the instruction was passed, at least one person claimed to have had a signed land lease, while others complained that the process was not done fairly.
Yesterday, Singh, who was vice-chairman of the region before being appointed REO after the 2011 elections, admitted that certain items were being removed but noted that they were being taken to sub-districts.
“They were not going to my house, they were going to the sub-districts and that is what use to happen and no one told me to stop, so I was doing my work,” Singh said.
She added that while she is not a member of the PPP/C and did not campaign for the party—although there are claims that she did—she knew she would have been eventually removed as REO since she was appointed by the past administration. “I was not campaigning, I was not on no list but I knew they would ask me to go and so it come as no surprise when I was ask to go on leave,” she said.
Asked what she will do at the end of her leave, Singh said only time will tell and noted that she does not believe she would be retained as REO.
“I am from this region, I don’t have nowhere to go, no place,” she said.
“I would have to find something to do, that’s all. I can’t just sit down and expect the money to fall from the sky. I have to do something,” she added.
Meanwhile, Parker said he has started meeting with senior staff members and added that this will be done monthly to ensure that there is coordination of information and resources.
He also said he also wants to rebuild cooperation among staff members and the citizens of the region since the last election campaign proved to be very divisive.
In 2012, Parker and another councillor had moved a motion of no-confidence against Singh for “interference” in village elections at the community of Parishara.
This was done following the holding of village council elections at Parishara/Haiwa and Nappi villages, which were then governed by one village council.
