Hundreds of millions of dollars were paid out to more than 50 contract workers of the Ministry of Communities under the previous APNU+AFC administration over the past five years with no record or evidence of their performance, newly appointed Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall has said.
During his first press briefing, which was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, at Liliendaal, Dharamlall said the discovery was made following a situational analysis that was undertaken by him and Deputy Minister Anand Persaud.
“We found that in the minister’s secretariat, in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, there were 23 staff who were earning as much as, in total per month, $7.730 million dollars,” Dharamlall said.
“…Hundreds of millions of dollars the last government paid out and there is no evidence of work provided… that is supposed to work out to about $160 million per year on average. We multiply that by five years—because these are people still on the payroll—by five years that is over $800 million that these 56 persons have earned on the backs of taxpayers without evidence,” he added.
According to Dharamlall, among these individuals are those who are employed under the designation as Special Ministerial Advisor and Community Development Council officers.
He said these persons are believed to be part of the “political machinery” of the APNU+AFC coalition since they have not showed up for work since the new government has been sworn in and there were no records of their performances over the last five years.
“Those staff happen to be elements which we believe were part of the political machinery at that time of the government and from our records at the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, we have been unable to verify and to validate the performance of these staff because there is no record of their work, there is no documentation of their work and since we took office there has been no presence of their person in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development,” Dharamlall explained.
Dharamlall yesterday provided the names of some of these persons and the terms of their employment.
Five-year contract
Among them are Oscar Clarke, who is named Special Ministerial Advisor on Local Government, Ganesh Mahipaul and former APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Barbara Pilgrim.
Dharamlall said Clarke earns a monthly salary of $418,674 with a $25,000 non-taxable duty allowance and a $15,000 telephone allowance per month.
“And since we took office, we have not seen him and from the reports we have received… this individual turns up to work three half days per week,” Dharamlall said.
However, when contacted yesterday, Clarke told Stabroek News that he was at the office. “I have been at work… I am at the office most days,” he said.
Clarke noted that he has a five-year contract with the ministry, which began on September, 2017. “I am speaking to you from my office at the Ministry of Communities and I have been here since September 2017 and I have a contract. I have a five-year contract,” he noted.
Rupert Hopkinson, according to Dharamlall, was also named a special advisor in local governance, who earned $376,807 per month with non-taxable allowance of $70,000 and telephone allowance of $10,000, every month.
Hopkinson had a controversial tenure as the Regional Executive Officer of Region Two under the APNU+AFC administration before being replaced at the end of 2018. He was subsequently appointed as head of the Regional Agricultural Development Unit in Region Two.
In addition, two other individuals, Carmichael Thorne and Samuel Parris, were listed as advisors to the former minister Ronald Bulkan, Dharamlall said.
Thorne earned $488,250 monthly plus a $30,000 non-taxable duty allowance with telephone allowance and a travelling allowance of $20,000 per month.
“These individuals’ contracts were renewed even after the no-confidence motion was passed. And renewed for a substantial period so they contracts are also in effect but the fact that they have not yet turned up to work, it means that they are in terrible breach of their contract,” Dharamlall said.
Among another set of names that were provided yesterday were individuals who are employed within the Ministry’s Community Development Councils (CDCs).
Mahipaul was assigned to the Region Three Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and earned a salary of $210,982 per month and a non-taxable duty allowance of $10,000 per month as a Community Development Officer. Mahipaul reportedly held the post since August 2015. It is unclear if Mahipaul was performing the duties of the region’s Information Officer through this contract or whether that was a separate contract.
Former APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Pilgrim was also on the ministry’s payroll and received $210,982 per month, a $10,000 non-taxable duty allowance and a $10,000 telephone allowance.
Among the other names listed on the payroll were Carol Nurse, Latchmin Azeez and Simpson DaSilva.
Azeez earned $194,752 per month with non-taxable $10,000 allowance and a $5,000 telephone allowance.
Efforts made by this newspaper to contact Mahipaul and Pilgrim for comment proved futile as calls to their phones were unanswered.
Submitted reports
Azeez was contacted but she was unaware of Dharamlall’s claims.
“I am not aware of that actually, that any work wasn’t done. We… submitted our reports to the office on a regular basis… There are so many CDCs throughout the region… I am not aware of what they are saying. I mean, I don’t know how they can say such a thing when there are so many CDCs that were formed to bridge the gap between communities,” she said.
Azeez related that over the years she has done “a lot” of work for both the PPP and APNU+AFC coalition and it was only until the coalition took office in 2015 that she began receiving a salary.
“I have done it free throughout the PPP years. It’s only when the APNU came in I started getting a salary. I wish to say that during the PPP, I was always supportive of the PPP and I have done many, many years of voluntary community work with the PPP… I was the CDC for the Bush Lot-Armadale [area] since 2005. I was re-elected thrice and then the CDC became dormant and in 2015 I was re-elected again. The thing is I have been working throughout my days with my community. When the coalition government came into power, they recognised my work and there they gave me a job,” she explained.
According to Azeez, most of what she did was “field work,” which did not require her to be in office. “…My contract end in November… my thing is mostly field work, not in office work… I was hoping that I can continue my job because this is what I have been doing for so many years”, she added.
Dharamlall said that the matter is being dealt with on a case by case basis, while noting that the ministry will be holding every individual accountable for all expenses that did not adhere to proper regulations.
He also assured that the ministry is open to all Guyanese and will employ individuals despite their political persuasion so long as they are competent and professional persons who are committed towards working towards the development of the country.
