Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 20, 2016 Letters
Dear Editor,
I have been reading with deep interest the many allegations of financial wrong-doing in Region 6 and the hijacking of the 2017 Estimates allegedly by two RDC officials. What is exposed in various letters and the former Regional Executive Officer, Dr V. Ramayya in his TV programs are issues which have plagued the RDC for a long time but which have now reached epidemic proportions.
The conspiracies now seem to start from the formulation of these estimates onward and if nothing is done by this Coalition Government then Region 6 will slide rapidly downwards. I was a Regional Councillor for four years and am very acquainted with the dubious practices at the Tender Board level and the huge number of substandard works being done and duly certified on a regular basis but it is time that these practices are put to an immediate halt.
I was also a former Chairman of the Water Users Association and I am quite stunned by the questionable practices of the new board which was installed recently. These Board members are diverting the Region’s machines to be used for their personal benefits and those of their friends rather than doing work to assist rice farmers in the area. These machines are also used to destroy my ancestors’ graves. These directives were allegedly given by the Regional Vice Chairman.
Many farmers have been complaining bitterly about these questionable practices but to no avail. All the access dams in the rice cultivation are in dire need for repairs yet the machines have remained stuck in one area for the past months servicing friends and cronies of some officials of the Region. The Vice Chairman was spoken to and he promised to deploy these machines to No. 54 Village over a month now and yet nothing was done. It appears as though this man controls all the machines and that the Regional Chairman is totally unaware of what is going on. I do feel that it is time that the Regional Chairman investigates what is going on before it is too late since he is in charge of the Region.
In addition, the education sector is also replete with conspiratorial practices. Recently, I was mandated by the Minister of Education to look at the conditions existing in various schools in the Region and I was disappointed by the substandard work done by contractors and the state of disrepair in most of the ninety schools I visited. For instance, at the Cumberland Nursery School, female teachers have had no access to toilet facilities for over five years now.
I was ashamed to ask how they responded to a call of nature. At the Belvedere Primary School a small footpath bridge which is just 4 feet in width was built at an enormous cost of 1 million dollars only last year and the revetment is already falling apart! Anyone looking at this bridge will be totally dumbfounded as to where the one million dollars actually went. This is a direct result when estimates for work are done without any independent engineer being consulted and broad based consultations. There are many instances of these and that is the reason why Region 6 cannot see the type of development that it should.
Lastly, because of lack of proper consultations there are some cases where estimates were made for roads in Nos. 67-69 Villages, which were already done and no consideration was given to priorities. I personally spoke to officials in the 52-74 NDC who decried the fact that they were not consulted in the preparation of Region’s 2017 Estimates. I do hope that this Government will do a forensic audit of the Tender Board and the operations of the Region.
Reekahraj Poonai
WPA Executive Member
Jagdeo giving Exxon 102 cent to collect 2 cent.
Apr 25, 2024
By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – The French Diplomatic Office in Guyana, in collaboration with the Guyana Olympic Association and UNICEF, hosted an exhibition on Tuesday evening at the...Kaieteur News – Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, persists in offering... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]