In defending his government’s appointment of supporters to the position of Regional Executive Officers (REOs), Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan yesterday said that the new officers should be judged on their performance, arguing that the past REOs went about their duties in a partisan manner.
The new APNU+AFC administration has come in for criticism over its appointment of REOs close to the political parties from the coalition beginning with the REO in Region 9, Carl Parker and more recently with former AFC Member of Parliament Dr Veerasammy Ramayya. Dr Ramayya’s appointment has been strongly opposed by the opposition PPP/C who have argued that the displaced REO-Paul Ramrattan-was not a political appointee and was in no way affiliated with the party.
But according to Minister Bulkan, whose ministry had advertised for new REOs, what is underappreciated is that the real issue had to do with “the political loyalty of the REOs that the administration inherited. He stated that the REOs went about their duties in partisan manner and did not respect the authority of the Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) especially those that were opposition controlled. He said they allowed themselves to be used as vehicles to marginalise the authority of the council. The PPP/C presently controls seven of the 10 regional councils.
“They performed their duties in a particularly vile and partisan manner,” Bulkan said.
Asked if the same could not be feared for the new REOs in light of the fact that some are closely connected to the government and were candidates in the last elections, the minister said they would have to be judged on their performance. He said it is left to be seen if they would respect the authority of the RDC and it is only then they could be judged.
The minister told Stabroek News that the administration has made it clear that it respects the principle of the decentralisation of power and respects the authority of the RDCs. However, he said like with diplomatic appointments any incoming administration would want to have personnel that are not associated with the former administration at a certain level.
Told that the PPP/C has argued that Ramrattan, among the most recently removed REOs, was not associated with the party, the minister said that he has a lot of evidence to the contrary but would only make this public if the former REO himself disputed this fact as he does not want to get into a shouting match with the PPP/C.
The government has now removed nine of the 10 REOs it found when it came into office in May with the only REO retaining his position being Peter Ramotar, brother of former President Donald Ramotar, who has had his contract renewed.
In the past, Bulkan had emphasised that the operations and management of the regions should not be politicised.
Shortly after taking up his ministerial position, Bulkan sent Region 9’s REO Claire Singh on leave, while stating at the time that she understood “that she was playing an overt political role and that with a change in administration it was untenable for her to remain there.” Region 3’s REO, Donald Gajraj, was also sent on leave. The Minister had stated that the fate of the remaining REOs would have been determined case by case as most if not all of the REOs were political appointees.
“In the tenth Parliament the APNU was very critical of… what we saw as the politicisation of the operations and management of the regions and we criticised and condemned that political dimension…that was being practised in the management of our RDCs and the management of the regions,” the minister had told this newspaper in an interview.
He had contended that the political appointees as REOs were usurping the authority of the councils, which he said was “perverse”.
“It was undemocratic and as I said it was perverse,” the minister had said.
He had emphasised that criteria would have been established for the hiring of new REOs which among other things would have encompassed qualifications and experience.
“We believe that as a government, we have the right to ensure that we have the right people in the right places to deliver the quality of service that we expect of them,” State Minister Joseph Harmon told a press conference last Friday during a press conference.
