Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:51 AM
Mar 06, 2016 News
What is the purpose of the Local Government System when the representatives of the people are not being allowed to run their own affairs?
This is the question being asked by members of the Mon Repos/La Renaissance
Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), who are accusing Regional officials of interference.
The NDC members are accusing at least two top Regional officials of frustrating the work of the Council by influencing its staff to disregard decisions taken. The works would have redounded to the benefit of the community. “Just to make us look bad.”
Chairman of the NDC, Annette Dass, in an exclusive interview last week told Kaieteur News in the presence of another long serving Councillor, that the NDC is fed up with the current situation, since complaints and appeals to the Ministry of Communities appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
Dass, who is not seeking another term as Chairperson at the upcoming Local Government Elections, cited several instances of its staff, especially the current Acting Overseer, disregarding the decisions of the elected Council and instead acting on the contrary instructions of regional officials.
Dass took over the Chairmanship of the once debt-ridden Mon Repos/La Renaissance NDC in 2012.
She explained that since then she has been able to turn things around financially for the NDC, which caters for one of the largest concentrations of residents on East Coast Demerara.
From a position where they were indebted to several entities, including the Guyana Power and Light Inc., the NDC now boasts a positive bank balance of millions of dollars, as well as a solid market collection account.
The councillors said that things were progressing smoothly until the new administration came into power.
“Power was taken away from the NDC and these Regional officials start to run things, along with the Acting Overseer, who by the way, is paid by the Council,” said long time Councilor Ramjeet Persaud.
According to the NDC Chairperson Dass, Councilors, including herself, began to be subjected to insults by Regional officials at statutory meetings.
“They tell me that this is not the previous government. No President or nobody can’t call them and tell them what to do,” Dass stated.
The Councilors explained that while Regional officials are not barred from their meetings, they can only attend in an observer capacity.
“The meetings are supposed to be under the stewardship of the Chairman of the NDC but this official sometimes wants to take over,” Dass told this newspaper.
Most of the problems now being encountered stem from the current Acting Overseer of the NDC. This individual was the Acting Assistant Overseer up to November last year.
Dass explained that the Substantive Overseer was sent on leave late last year. On his return, he was forced by Regional officials to hand over all his duties to the Acting Assistant Overseer without the approval of the NDC.
She said that the Acting Overseer now is only taking instructions from the Regional Democratic Council and not the NDC.
She said that she refused to approve the move, but to date, the Substantive Overseer is sitting in an office, with nothing to do, drawing taxpayers’ money, while the Acting Overseer, who is closely aligned to the Regional officials, is allowed to run the office.
The Chairman alleged that the Acting Overseer has been negligent in making up payments for works done for the Council, sometimes even blatantly refusing to honour the instructions of the Council.
The situation is likened to the previous situation at City Hall where the embattled Town Clerk was refusing to act on the decisions of the M&CC but instead took instruction from the then Minister of Local Government, creating a major crisis.
According to Dass, on one occasion, the Acting Overseer locked out Councillors from the NDC Conference Room all because she could not attend one of the statutory meetings.
“Imagine we turned up and found the door locked only to be told by the secretary that the acting overseer instructed that the room remain closed because she was not coming. This was a total eye pass to the councillors,” Dass declared.
On another occasion, the security guard who was employed under questionable circumstances by the Acting Overseer went against the norm of the NDC and locked out residents who would normally use the Lusignan Ground to play cricket at weekends.
These acts of indiscretion are all against the position of the duly elected Neighbourhood Democratic Council.
The Councillors also complained that the Regional officials, through the Acting Overseer, are negatively affecting the progress of capital works earmarked for the communities they serve.
Chairperson Dass explained that the Acting Overseer is making decisions contrary to those of the Council with regard to the collection of garbage and road repairs in a number of villages.
“We have piles of crusher run and other road repairs material lying idle and yet there are many roads in dire need of repairs,” she said.
Dass told this newspaper that the Mon Repos/La Renaissance NDC is not short on funds but it is the interference of Regional officials that is impacting negatively on their work programme.
“Many people will want to say that the NDC is not doing anything, but we want people to know that we are up against some people who do not want to see progress,” the NDC Chairperson said.
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