An investigation into claims of attempts to defraud the government’s flood relief programme in Region Six has found no evidence of “corruption or skullduggery”, Regional Chairman David Armogan yesterday said.
Speaking with Stabroek News via phone he said that after a claims period was opened for a month, a number of persons made complaints. On investigation of those claims he said that they did not find evidence to suggest that persons involved in the payout of flood relief were engaged in fraudulent activities.
“The claims were sorted out, some are still to be addressed but people were saying all sorts of things but when we looked at it there was nothing of the sort. There is no skullduggery or corruption in the process,” Armogan related.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha in September had announced that they would be investigating the claims of fraudulent activities in the payment of flood relief.
The investigation was launched in all flood-affected regions but it was not clear who was leading it. The report from the Ministry of Agriculture said it was prompted by claims in several flood-affected regions that persons who did not suffer losses as a result of the May-June flooding were nonetheless listed to receive assistance from the government.
The ministry’s extension officers were tasked with conducting the verification to compile the lists of those affected and they were to be made answerable if it was found that persons who didn’t suffer losses were included.
“When this process commenced, I made it very clear that anyone found guilty of malpractices or `padding the list’ so to speak would be dealt with. We also made an appeal to farmers to be honest because this is taxpayers’ monies we are dealing with and we cannot be reckless but it seems as though persons didn’t heed to our warning and now we have to take a step back to carry out an investigation to see if there is any truth to these allegations,” he had said.
“There are a number of persons who are making allegations that some people on the list should not receive payments. As Minister of Agriculture, I welcome any information but I will need evidence so that we can deal with it. Many times, people are saying persons are not entitled but when we ask for the names, the persons making the allegations do not have the evidence. Similar allegations were being made on social media recently. I sent the entire leadership of NAREI to investigate those claims but they didn’t find any evidence to support such. I agree that we must have proper accountability and transparency. Once the allegations are made, we need the evidence to handle those persons accordingly because this relief is intended for persons who suffered losses in the rice, cash crop, and livestock sector,” Mustapha said back in September at the announcement of the investigations.
President Irfaan Ali had announced relief grants in excess of $7 billion, including $3.5 billion in payouts to those in the agriculture sector who had suffered losses in floods. Homestead farmers were to receive $100,000, those with kitchen gardens $50,000 each, and other households $50,000 each. The rice sector had been allocated a total of $3.2 billion while livestock farmers were to receive financial assistance of $600 million.
