In addition to stepping down as an APNU+AFC councillor on the Region Five Regional Council, Carol Joseph has also resigned from all posts she held in the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), sources close to her said yesterday.
However, a source said that Joseph remains committed to assisting the party wherever she is needed and that the PNCR, of which she was an executive member, will “not give up on her” as she was viewed as a hard worker.
“What I can tell you is that she did resign from the party… Nah, to the best of my knowledge it was not because of the nurse story… I cannot at this time say the reason but she is our girl and we will not abandon her,” the PNCR member said.
Two days after she found herself at the centre of allegations of using her office to get preferential treatment at the Fort Wellington Hospital, Joseph on Thursday submitted her resignation as APNU+AFC Region Five councillor.
The PNCR is the largest constituent of APNU.
Nurse Sherlyn Marks had lodged complaints twice last year against Joseph over the latter’s frequent access to pain killing medication.
The nurse had copied her complaint to leading health, regional and government officials but no action had been taken. In Wednesday’s edition, Stabroek News reported on the nurse’s grievance and the fact that nothing had been done by the authorities.
She had lamented that months after her first correspondence and a follow-up letter on December 13, 2016, there seemed to be no intervention. All this while, Joseph continued to access the system.
Marks’s letter was addressed to Dr George Norton, who was the Minister of Public Health at the time.
However, he has since been reshuffled to the Ministry of Social Cohesion with his successor being Volda Lawrence. This newspaper reached out to Lawrence’s office, but Public Relations Officer Terence Esseboom said that she was out of the country on travel duty. He said that as far as he was aware, Lawrence did not know of the letter. He asked for a copy and Stabroek News provided him with same.
He said that Lawrence would return to Guyana sometime next week and would address the issue.
On Wednesday, the same day that the news item appeared in Stabroek News, Marks said she was summoned by the Region Five, Regional Executive Officer Ovid Morrison, who she said complained about her going to the press and that her letter of complaint had not been sent to him. She later received her letter of transfer.
A copy of the letter seen by Stabroek News, stated that the reason for the transfer was “in an effort to establish good vaccination coverage within this catchment area.”
Marks said she never asked for a transfer and felt the unexpected decision came because her complaint was made public. She said that she was mainly concerned that she could be held liable if the drugs were given out improperly under the Dangerous Drug Act.
When Joseph was contacted on Tuesday by Stabroek News, she dismissed the claims about her improperly accessing the Fort Wellington Hospital drug supply, while stating that it was not true and someone seemed to be targeting her.
The former Region Five councillor can count on the support of her party comrades, according to one member, because she has been dedicated to the party. However, the member said the PNCR’s support should not be seen as condoning any allegations of misconduct against Joseph since the party has “a no nonsense approach” against any corruption or wrongdoings of its members.
It was explained to this newspaper that Joseph was a hard worker who “worked the grounds” in the run up to the 2015 general and regional elections in her constituency and greater Berbice.
