People’s Progressive Party/Civic Member of Parliament (MP), Harry Gill has accused the head of the Enhancement Programme in Region Five, Abel Seetaram of abusing his privilege and using the workers to weed his Bath/Woodley Park, West Coast Berbice yard.
Gill and Seetaram have crossed swords on a host of matters in recent months.
In a statement yesterday, Gill said that Seetaram had done the work at the expense of taxpayers and yesterday had also instructed the slashers to clean up the street where he lives.
He said too that on Monday, the workers were “slashing and cleaning up the street where his (Seetaram’s) friend and former RDC Councillor, Carol Joseph lives in Hopetown…”
According to him, when he arrived in the Woodley Park area yesterday “a few of these Enhancement Workers were busy slashing the sides of the road leading up to Seetaram’s residence, while the majority were seen idling under a shed doing no work at all.”
He said after taking some photos, he proceeded to the nearby Woodley Park Primary School, and was appalled at the condition of the school street and the area surrounding the school.
He took “more photographic evidence of the misuse of authority” and by then the entire team of Enhancement Workers suddenly appeared in the school street as I was leaving and commenced slashing operations there.”
He said when he returned to Seetaram’s street, his suspicions were confirmed that he must have been alerted that he [Gill] was taking photos in the nieghbourhood because the work was incomplete and the team seemed to have left in a hurry.
Contacted, Seetaram told Stabroek News that through the enhancement programme that was launched one month ago, “the workers have all authorities to clean street corners to enhance the communities.”
He said they also clean the yards of single parents who cannot afford to get it done, while admitting that they had also cleaned his yard.
The workers, he said, were “moving from area to area” and that they had finished cleaning a street in Hopetown for the 50th anniversary.
Asked whether it was true he cleaned that street because Joseph lived there, he responded that she “does not own a street.”
This newspaper also asked if the workers were supposed to complete one village before moving to another and he said they were not “because there would be overgrowth in other villages.” But he said, they would return to the village later to complete the work.
According to Seetaram, another team would start soon in sub-region one and that the programme was a way of creating employment for young people.
Further, he said he made a report to the police that Gill was taking photos of his home and told his family he could “do what he want” when asked why he was doing so.
