The Region One community of Wauna is divided over how carbon credits monies have been used for the purchasing of wires for an electrification project and the way forward is unclear.
Contretemps in the community has also raised early questions about accountability for monies under the Hess carbon credits programme – a portion of which is going to indigenous villages.
Controversy surrounds the purchasing of the wires for electrification as the person who made the acquisition did so from a store which had not provided a quotation and questions have now arisen about the quality of the item.
In Wauna, the $18 million carbon credits grant was allocated to the Community Development Council (CDC), of which $13.8 million was set aside for the electrification project.
The project when completed will see the entire village supplied with electricity 24/7 from their main grid and it is among 27 projects that are set to be implemented in the community over the next ten years. The project includes wiring homes since most of the dwellings in the community lacked this.
A committee comprising members from different backgrounds including health and construction, was formed to oversee all the projects.
The villagers allege that a CDC councillor, along with two businessmen, spent some $5 million to purchase the wiring to be used in the project. The villagers claim that the wires are faulty and too expensive with no proper bidding done for the project.
As such, the residents in an effort to have their voices heard, staged a demonstration in the village calling for transparency in the project. This sparked a protest on August 13, which then prompted a meeting with the Regional Chairman for Region One, Brentnol Ashley, at which villagers were able to voice their concerns.
Former Community Development Councillor, Kamla Armogan, spoke to Stabroek News and said that the council seems to not be handling the matter properly and the project continues to lack transparency.
“The council isn’t handling it the right way. I think it is supposed to be transparent, we are supposed to know what is going on as a community”, she said.
Armogan further noted that no one appears to be on their side and that is why protest action had to be taken.
“So far, nothing is done concerning the electrical part and some of the people are happy with what going on. We aren’t satisfied even with the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) intervention, they didn’t give us any sort of satisfaction. It’s like if we have a problem in the village, we can’t really reach out to the RDC and Regional Chairman to help because he is supporting the council and we can’t talk for right in the region. We never got the satisfaction that is why we bypass all of them and go on the road because that is something we are accustomed to”, she said.
However, Chairman of the CDC, Ammon Thom insists that residents were fully engaged throughout the process and that there was no corruption.
“That is far from the truth because cash in hand, we have in the community $1.6 million and we have $4.2 million in the bank, that is from the $18 million. So, we can safely say that we have close to $7 million in the bank from the $18 million. So, when it comes to the money being exhausted that is far from the truth”, he told Stabroek News.
He did acknowledge that an issue was raised concerning the wiring that was purchased by the CDC councillor from a store that did not provide a quote. He said one issue came up that the councillor bought the wire from another store that was not previously quoted. In the end, the wires were purchased at a cost of $5.1m.
This issue, he said, sparked some criticism, but no formal process was carried out to question the acquisition of the wiring through any means such as the finance committee, the council, or the chairman of the region and council on the matter.
Thom said that this was explained to them at the meeting and he remains surprised as to why the protest even happened but believes that it is being instigated by former councillors. He said that if an investigation is to follow, there are receipts to show as evidence.
“I have in my possession all the receipts to show how the monies are spent and the balance. So, I’m certain that we are on the right side, and I’m on the right side when it comes to spending that money”, he said.
There was no explanation as to why the purchase was made from a store that didn’t provide a quotation and whether the wires will now be utilised for the electrification project.
