Jagdeo lashes GECOM over Local Govt delay

Jul 31, 2009 News

The Guyana Elections Commission came in for a tongue lashing on Wednesday when President Bharrat Jagdeo expressed his annoyance at the inability of the agency to hosts local government elections this year.
During a press conference hosted at Office of the President, the Head of State said that the administration cannot keep ‘pumping’ taxpayers’ money ad nauseam into GECOM, just to have a ‘laid back kind of attitude in reciprocity.’
Irritated at the agency, President Jagdeo said that at one time Guyana was spending more money on a per captia basis than any other country in the world to organise elections.
“I find it inconceivable that they cannot make proper arrangements to prepare for elections this year…with all the staff and money that we pumped into this agency…something has to be wrong.”
According to the President, with all the resources that was incorporated into GECOM, a second examination should be warranted.

“Something has got to be wrong and I just don’t accept this because GECOM made the declarations…they should prove to the people of this country, why is it that they can’t have these things done,” the President stated.
In some countries in the region, he added, the Head of State only has to give a one month notice and they are prepared and ready for elections.
“In this country we have signaled for years that we want local government elections…it is just one set of excuse after the next…and Mr. (Steve) Surujbally bears responsibility for this as the Head of the Agency,” the Head of State said in annoyance.
On Tuesday last, Chairman of GECOM Dr. Steve Surujbally, confirmed that there could be no Local Government elections this year.
According to Dr. Surujbally, the groundwork that has to be completed before such elections could take place would not be completed by November 30 deadline that had been set for the holding of local government elections.

He said that there must first of all be the completion of the National Register of Registrants (NRR), the production and distribution of the new modern Identification Cards, the delimitations exercise, the claims and objections period as well as an education drive.
The NRR is still to be completed and there are in excess of 300 cases of multiple registrations which have been identified as a result of the fingerprint cross referencing programme. This is currently being addressed.
There are also another 84 cases still to be unresolved given the poor quality of the fingerprint and this is also to be addressed.
In excess of 432,000 registrants have been verified and Okayed, according to Dr Surujbally.
Dr. Surujbally emphasised that the Claims and Objections exercise will not commence until the ID card distribution and the delimitation exercises are completed and that the exercise should not be more that six weeks.

In relation to the new ID cards, the Company Thomas De La Rue was paid 90 per cent of the total sum due for the production of the new ID cards at a cost of just under US$2 per card placing. The overall cost is about US$870, 000.
The company was approached ever since last year for the production of the new cards but said that it would not commence any such exercise until at least 90 per cent of the total sum paid over and this was done on June 16, according to Dr. Surujbally.
He noted that the delimitation of constituencies, GECOM will not be changing existing boundaries, but will seek to establish constituencies within and in conjunction with the existing legal/administrative framework of the Regional system.

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Jagdeo lashes GECOM over Local Govt delay

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