PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee has accused the government of targeting 18 Amerindian Villages that are known supporters of the party through recent audits.
At a news conference on Monday, Rohee expressed alarm that of 187 Amerindian villages and communities, the government had specifically targeted the 18 for what he dubbed “highly sensationalised” audits. “It is obvious therefore that the Granger administration has specifically targeted these villages and communities to be audited/investigated because they are not supportive of the APNU/AFC and the Coalition have opted to do so in a most discriminatory, high-handed and insensitive manner,” he said.
He identified Taushida, Potarinau, and Woweta in Region Nine, Kurukubaru in Region 8 and Moraikabai, in Region Five as being among the targeted villages.
While inveighing against political discrimination, Rohee said if audits are to be done they must be done “across the board and without fear or favour affection or ill will.” To pick and choose, he added, is to invite suspicion.
Rohee further charged that several villages and communities have been intentionally bypassed for audits because of their political leaning towards the APNU+AFC government coalition.
“…What is all the fuss and big publicity about surrounding these investigations/audits of some Amerindian villages and communities and why similar audits/investigations are not being done in other villages and communities, especially in light of the statement by Joseph Harmon to the effect that there will be no “holy cows” in the execution of these investigations/audits? The answer is obvious to all decent and fair-minded persons: it is all double talk and part and parcel of the APNU/AFC’s pretence at a “clean up” campaign to show the PPP in a bad light and to rubbish its achievements,” Rohee declared.
Stabroek News contacted the Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry on Tuesday for comment on the PPP’s allegations but the ministry has not responded.
Recently, Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs Sydney Allicock told Stabroek News that audits have been done in 18 communities and the preliminary findings were not very encouraging, “which means we have to address those issues by training people because although we were told there was capacity building, the evidence is really not there in all the communities.” He said those living in the communities have indicated that while they knew monies were sent to their communities, they were at a loss as to how they were being spent since they were not part of the discussions and the process. Allicock’s comments came in wake of a decision to relieve roughly 2,000 persons of positions as Community Support Officers in Amerindian communities under the Youth Apprenticeship and Entrepreneurial Programme, which was initiated by the PPP/C government. Allicock said the programme was intended to train young people in skills but to date there is nothing to show for it.
