In what is increasingly becoming a battle between the government and local councils over jurisdiction for community projects, President Irfaan Ali last night lashed out at the opposition APNU+AFC over its stance on works at Den Amstel on the West Demerara which saw Works Minister Deodat Indar instructing the removal of padlocks placed by the NDC on a sports ground.
Members of the Den Amstel Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) yesterday told Stabroek News that they were not opposed to the improvement of the community’s ground but that the government had tried to completely bypass it and this was reflected in the instruction of Minister in the Ministry of Works, Indar to cut the padlocks the council had placed on the ground.
Last night, the President issued a blistering statement aimed at APNU+AFC. He did not refer to the NDC.
“I have noticed the self-centered, narrow propaganda of a press statement that emanated from the APNU+AFC in relation to their open endorsement of the blockade of development in Dem Amstel, West Coast Demerara.
The claim made is utter rubbish from the elitist, anti-development, racist propagandist in the opposition. The APNU+AFC blockade on people and community development will be continuously exposed. Their incompetence in Government and now their self-desire to stymie the development of our communities will continuously be exposed by right-thinking Guyanese. The deflated APNU+AFC’s baseless attack on Minister Indar is an indication of their desperation. The combined leadership of this anti-development cabal cannot match Minister Indar’s competence and commitment to Guyana’s development.
“Not only are Minister Indar and my Cabinet proactive, competent, highly skilled and innovative, but we understand what is it to build One Guyana, unlike the narrow minority of racist elites in the deflated APNU/AFC.
“As right thinking Guyanese continue to embrace the vision and transformation, the specially knitted cabal will dwindle in their sinful desire of achieving division and taking us backward”, the President thundered.
Following, Indar’s order to cut the padlocks on Tuesday, Stabroek News visited Den Amstel yesterday to speak to the NDC on the furore.
NDC members refuted the accusations made by Indar on the ministry’s Facebook page, that they had derailed a government development project by interfering with construction works in progress at the community.
NDC chairman, Kenton Hilliman told Stabroek News that the NDC welcomes the works that government is doing for the community but added that the minister should have checked with him on the reason why the locks were placed on the community ground’s gate before the locks were severed on Tuesday. He said that the NDC officials were never informed about the government’s plans to begin rehabilitation of the community ground.
He noted that instead, Minister Indar had “disrespectfully” started the works on the community ground and with no regard to consulting the NDC on this matter. Hilliman said that he went ahead and had the contractors, Clint Grimes and Darren Jordan, dig up the ground to have the basketball court rehabilitated.
Hilliman reiterated that placing padlocks on the community gate is not a political thing, instead, it is the protocol taken in carrying out the project. He said that they are glad for the projects the government is doing for Den Amstel, however, they need to consult with the NDC when visits are made to the community so that they would know what the government is doing to develop the community and when these projects would start. He added that during the last visit President Ali and the minister made to Den Amstel, they never told any Council members that they would be meeting with the community.
Hilliman explained yesterday that he heard someone in the street on Tuesday say that an excavator was working in the community ground and he was curious to know who was performing unauthorized work.
He then approached the operator, Grimes, to inquire about what was happening in the ground, and told him that he wasn’t informed about the works being done here. Jordan, the contractor, came out of his vehicle and said, “I can’t talk to he.” Jordan later drove off and Hilliman said as Grimes was in the ground he told him to “come out of the ground.” Grimes called Jordan and told him what was said and he responded by saying, “He can’t stop you, continue working.” Grimes then left the ground.
Duty
The NDC chairman stressed that he did not harass anyone and opined that it was the duty of the minister to inform the NDC that they will be starting works in the community because everyone is glad for the works. After the minister visited the community ground, he posted a video on Facebook based on what he heard from the contractor and operator instead of inquiring from the NDC why it was done. Hilliman said that he (the minister) “was foolish in cutting the locks as he should get the facts before from us as to what transpired and try to resolve it before posting the video on Facebook.”
He also disclosed that numerous calls were made to Indar yesterday regarding the matter but he did not reach out to them. He pointed out that he couldn’t go and do the road just like that without consulting the government so therefore the Government should do the same to the NDC. He referenced a contractor who would normally seek the permission of the NDC when he had to do work anywhere in the community and wondered why the government could not do the same and consult them in these matters. Further, he noted that the building of the basketball court is not advisable as footballers can step on the field and injure themselves.
Meanwhile NDC vice-chairman, Junnet Greene, stated that not only did the minister cut the locks but he posted the act up on Facebook and what was he said, “was wrong, was wrong.” She, too, said that several calls were made to him before the matter escalated, but “he never come.” She echoed that they want the project to go on as no one is against it but the approach the minister took in doing it was wrong, “it is disrespectful.” She noted that they are an elected body and it is disrespectful for him not to include the NDC.
A concerned citizen who preferred to remain anonymous said that ever since the government entered office, the Den Amstel NDC has been bullied. Also, everything is coming through the Community Development Council (CDC), and all she has been hearing from the government since they came into office is, “The CDC is managing this and that” and she wants to know why then, is there an NDC in the community. She added that she feels like an outcast because there are persons at the ball field that the ministry could have contacted about what transpired.
The resident also noted that the minister is supposed to hand over the Bill of Quantities to the NDC but he never did so. She told the contractor that if they are going to do the project, “could we see the bill of quantity.”
The chairman of the ball field community group, she contended, should be informed because he or she was elected by the people of Den Amstel. She noted that when the president came to Den Amstel, he said the minister should work with the leaders of the village so she does not understand why the minister “just barge in” like that.
She insisted that the matter was not a political one because the community needs developments.
In a press release issued yesterday, the PNCR accused the government of not consulting with the Den Amstel NDC before awarding the contract to a contractor with no prior experience to conduct works at the community’s community ground.
At the party’s weekly press conference, the PNCR said that although the APNU+AFC welcomes assistance to communities they must condemn Minister Indar for the disrespect shown to the people of Den Amstel.
As such it posited that the people of Den Amstel have a right to stand up to such “lawlessness and to reject this pattern of discrimination as is also manifest in the PPP handling of land issues in Mocha and other communities.”
Later, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton stated that there was no tendering for the contract that was awarded and the residents have claimed that the man has no experience to complete the proposed work. According to Norton, the individual turned up and indicated he was there to do work and when asked for the bill of quantity and any other documentation for the proposed works he refused and said he was there to do what he was sent to do. His refusal, Norton said, then led to a confrontation.
“He was just arbitrarily identified, no evidence that the procurement procedure that is within the confines of the law was followed,” he said, referring to the contractor.
