The Chairman of Region Six, David Armogan, yesterday revoked the seats of two government regional councillors after they failed to attend the Regional Democratic Council statutory meetings for several months now.
The APNU+AFC councillors whose seats were declared vacant are AFC’s Khousal Goberdan and APNU’s Janet Samuels.
According to Armogan, this decision was in keeping with the rule which states that if a councillor is absent from three consecutive meetings without providing a reasonable excuse, then their seat can be declared vacant. He disclosed that both Goberdan and Samuels have absented themselves for over six months without providing any excuse to the council.
“This morning we had to take a conscious decision at the level of the council to declare their seats vacant so that the coalition can be able to replace them with persons who are willing to work with the council and who are willing to represent the interest of the people within the region,” Armogan told Stabroek News after yesterday’s statutory meeting.
Armogan stressed that persons should not take on the role of being a regional councillor just to receive the stipend but rather, they should be ready to represent their respective areas and the region at large. He said he expects the APNU+AFC government to place the two councillors with persons who have the time and are willing to make a contribution to regional development.
He further stated, that he has advised the Regional Executive Officer, Kim Stephens, to follow the process and write to GECOM informing them of the decision. He said after GECOM is informed, it is expected that they will then write to the government for them to select two other regional councillors to fill the two vacant seats.
AFC Region Six Councillor, Gobin Harbhajan, yesterday told Stabroek News that he received records which show that Goberdan had absented himself for approximately eight months now. He said, “Some indications are that he had migrated to the USA and had authorised persons to collect his stipend and the other APNU councillor, Janet Samuels also been absent for a long period of time.”
Harbhajan said he is embarrassed to know that councillors who are selected to represent the people of the region fail to show up to do so. As such, he called for the government to fill the now vacant seats as soon as possible. He noted, “Today the Regional Chairman and the REO took a decision to send a strong message which I fully support that in order to see the region develop all councillors must play their part.”
In October last year, Armogan had warned that if councillors failed to show up for meetings then their seats would be revoked, since he had pointed out that several government councillors would constantly absent themselves without providing an excuse or explanation.
At last October’s statutory meeting held in the region’s boardroom, Armogan had pointed out that only four councillors were present to represent the government. He then made a call for the councillors who have been absenting themselves to resign and make space for persons who are willing to work.
