Financial questions abound in the operations of Region 6 governance

Sep 30, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
The Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, has made a valid and timely assessment when he stated that the people should hold all contractors responsible for shoddy and substandard work done, and he hit the bull’s eye when he further contended that each citizen has a right to demand value for money.
The Minister’s statement came at an opportune time when there is massive corruption going on in Region 6 and I am profoundly gratified when I read .Dr. Ramayya’s expose on the corrupt practices in this region .
The substandard work done at Baracara is just the tip of the iceberg, more than 90% of the capital works done are of a substandard nature or the costs are highly inflated so that again there is no value for money. In fact, with the capital works proposed in the 2017 Budget, it is my estimation that if proper budgetary planning was done, then the people of Region 6 would be accessing more value for money in 2017. This is where the Minister’s input is vitally necessary.
Moreover, the Minister should investigate the high volume of ‘emergency works’ done in the Region. Here again value for money is lost since the costs of these works are highly inflated and skewed in favor of the contractor and those receiving the mandatory ‘kickbacks’. For instance, during the El Nino period in March-April 2016, the Government awarded millions of dollars to do excavation works from Whim to # 74 Villages but nearly 60% on these projects were already done by NDIA machines and these contracts were awarded to a friend of a Region 6 official.
This contractor simply did a little bit of cleaning and collected the millions awarded. It is alleged that this official had made an offer to another contractor who was asked a certain question that readers should read between the lines to ascertain. However, the contractor bluntly refused to answer the question. I suggest that the Minister carry out an investigation since the records must indicate that these drainage canals were already done by NDIA machines deployed in the Region unless the records are falsified through collusion.
It must be pointed out as well that the Regional Works Committee and has the power to give out ‘emergency works’ as well as the power to deploy the NDIA machines. This is leaving the door wide open for favoritisms practices to thrive.
Unfortunately, the focus is on the Ministers of Government who owns huge wealth and abroad, but not an eyelid is raised concerning regional officials who own massive wealth at home and abroad, for instance, a certain regional official who allegedly owns three houses in the USA while working for a small salary as an engineer.
In a letter to the press, I highlighted the substandard work done at # 52 Middle Walk Access Road which began disintegrating just after 3 weeks of being constructed. I wish the Minister could investigate this, but I want to implore him not to send the same team which went to Baracara since all three persons belong to the PPP, are close friends of the Regional Vice Chairman and were handpicked by the Regional Vice Chairman, who is the Chairman of the Regional Works Committee and is the person who authorizes the certification of works done in the Region. This type of conflict of interest will never lend itself to a credible investigation.
Furthermore, Mr Erwin Abdulla, a member of that team, even though he is an executive member of the AFC campaigned on behalf of the PPP in the last Local Government Election so this type of opportunistic tendency should not characterize a member of the team and Mark Gupta, as a member of the team, is a private engineer who is also a contractor of the Region. So how can these people carry out an unbiased investigation?
Another issue affecting cost and standard of work is the fact that some of the contractors who were awarded works do not have the necessary machinery and equipment to do the work and have to sub-contract some aspects of the job. Why should these people be given contracts when they do not have the necessary machinery to successfully carry out them? Lastly, I wish to congratulate the Minister of Communities and the Regional Chairman since there is now a new round of consultation with the NDCs and the works prioritized by them are now being fairly assessed and which hopefully will find its way into the Regional Estimate 2017.
Never again should consultation be sacrificed so that corrupt practices can reign. However, I do hope also that NDCs are given a copy of the Regional Estimates so that they can make a proper assessment in the future. I heard that the Regional Engineer, Mr.Roopesh Singh and the Regional Vice Chairman, Mr Dennis Deoroop are now on holiday in the USA after working extremely hard to singlehandedly formulate the Regional Estimates 2017. Nothing wrong with vacation; I am merely asking if they are out of the country
Lakram Singh
Vice Chairman Works Committee #52-74 NDC

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