Maintaining that they were given short notice to prepare and submit projects for the upcoming 2022 budget, Region Four APNU+AFC councillors yesterday slammed Regional Executive Officer (REO) Donald Gajraj for failing to inform them in a timely manner and accused him of disenfranchising residents from the process.
In separate statements, coalition partners, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) said they were only notified on September 2nd , four days ahead of the deadline for the budget, of the need to submit proposals.
“He (Gajraj) has given regional councillors such short notice to prepare budget proposals for the community’s development in the most populous region, region 4… This will do a grave injustice to the residents’ consultation in communities in Region 4,” the AFC said in their statement.
However, Gajraj in response to the accusation disputed the claims and told Stabroek News that Regional Chairman Daniel Seeram had informed the council since July of the need for proposals on projects to be included in the 2022 budget allocations for the region.
While not producing documents, Gajraj yesterday afternoon via phone said that minutes of the meeting in question can provide evidence of councillors being informed by Seeram to submit proposals.
A separate statement from APNU yesterday said that during an emergency meeting by the Regional Finance, Budget and Planning Committee, it was discovered that the Regional 2022 budget was being prepared in the absence of duly elected officers.
At the meeting held on September 3rd by the committee, the APNU statement said that Gajraj was not present neither did he send a representative from his office. This resulted in the meeting being cancelled.
Responding to this, Gajraj told Stabroek News yesterday that he was unable to attend the meeting scheduled by the committee since he had to be present at a national meeting of REOs which had been arranged prior.
Further, the REO related that his correspondence was a mere reminder of the need to submit project proposals. He argued that since councillors were “told to submit projects” by the chairman in July and he hadn’t seen anything presented, he sought to send a reminder. Gajraj stated that during the month of August, there was little communication with Seeram since he was out of the country. Nonetheless, Gajraj said a ministry circular on the budgetary proposals was also sent to Seeram.
Seeram last night told this newspaper that at every meeting he reminds councillors to identify projects they will want to see included in the regional budget. However, he said that Gajraj failed to inform them in a timely manner of the deadline for the project proposals.
“There is indeed a circular from the Ministry that was sent out since July 31st but I only received that on Thursday morning at 9.15 am after I asked him for a meeting,” the regional chair said.
He stated that despite the fact that he was overseas, the Regional Vice-Chairman Samuel Sandy functioned in his office but no correspondence was sent to him on budget deadlines.
Deliberate
“The act of Mr Gajraj is deliberate… He is usurping the work of the council. We don’t know what the projects that make up the budget are and he will have to justify to us how he arrived at the projects. There is a process that is followed in preparation of a budget. That includes, consultation, identification of projects and at the end presentation of the budget to councillors, these things were never done and it will not sit with the council,” Seeram told Stabroek News via phone last night.
The coalition in their statements said that the move by the REO to prepare a budget in their absence does not represent the will of the people in Region Four and called for an extension to be granted to councillors to consult with their constituents and prepare a proposal that will address their needs.
“We urge that immediate attention be given to these issues and that the necessary corrective actions begin forthwith. Commandeering of the Regional Budget 2022 will not be accepted in any shape or form…We strive to work along with the governing administration to bring relief, assistance and improve the lives and livelihoods of all the people of Guyana,” the statement from APNU said.
According to the AFC, village councils across the region were well informed of the budget deadline and also notified that they could submit at least four projects per community.
The AFC said that the timeframe for stakeholder consultations with the most populous region on their development needs is an impossible task and an insult to the residents who elect public officials to serve them.
The coalition partners in their statements added that the residents of Region Four should not be left out of community engagements for developmental projects and that an extended deadline should be considered to facilitate consultations with them on their own community needs.
Seeram said that he has written to the Finance Secretary and copied it to the Minister of Finance Ashni Singh, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall and President Irfaan Ali explaining the situation and requesting an extension. The AFC councillors also called for government intervention to reverse Gajraj actions.
Should the proposal by Gajraj be accepted, the AFC councillors said “This will do grave injustice to the residents… as their input into projects such as roads, bridges, culverts, schools, health centres, agriculture, infrastructure among others that will enhance environment and quality of life is not valued and counted, a violation of their basic right and good governance.”
“Lack of consultation and the hijacking of the democratic processes are indeed signs of a dictatorship in the making and the disenfranchising of the people of Guyana,” the APNU arm said in response to the REO’s move.
