Govt. must investigate this $18M over-priced bridge

Oct 07, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
Kindly publish this letter which is of grave and immediate concern for the residents of Maida /Tarlogie Neighborhood Democratic Council (NDC). We are appalled and baffled at the conspiratorial and negligent manner in which the business of the NDC is being conducted at this time and destroying development of the NDC.
Since April this year the NDC’s Chairman, Mr.Harbance has been absent from the statutory meeting along with the Vice Chairman who has been absent since June this year. This is compounded by the fact that many of the PPP councilors are also absent which makes it difficult to establish a quorum to conduct the business of the NDC. This has led to only informal discussions taking place. This is a mystery since from our understanding, caucuses within the PPP at Freedom House are normally held before the NDC’s statutory meeting in the local government system. They are chaired by the General Secretary, Mr Clement Rohee, therefore, it begs the question: Why is this type of purposeful negligent behavior allowed in an NDC controlled by the PPP? Has the PPP lost control over these NDCs? Why is it that these officials are not replaced so that the work of the NDC can go on?
I am also aware that there is a matter of conflict of interest. The Vice Chairman of the NDC, Mr. Muneshwar Bhira, is the recipient of a contract to clean trenches within the NDC. This contract was allegedly given by the Regional Vice Chairman, Mr Dennis Deoroop. This is a conflict of interest and needs to be addressed immediately.
We have also read with interest about the fact that NDCs are complaining about the lack of consultation in the preparation of the Regional Estimates for 2017. Our NDC was also not consulted since most of the officials are always absent but I do feel that consultation should have been done with the interested councilors and the overseer. There are three projects which we have been begging to be done for years now, but yet they are not in the 2017 RDC Budget Proposal. One is a street at Cromarty next to a school which will not only benefit residents but will grant access to the cemetery which is heavily forested. The next is the excavation of a drainage canal and the other is a bridge at Corn Reef Cross between Tarlogie and Wellington Park. Why was no consultation done at our NDC?
The consequence is that the lack of consultation has allowed corruption to take effect. For instance when we checked the Regional Estimate we found that Item 19 –rehabilitation of the heavy duty bridge at Wellington Park is estimated at $8 million. This bridge only needs a little extension since it is a new bridge and all it needs is a tube, dirt filling and some concrete work which should not cost more than $1 million. We are calling on the Regional Chairman, the Minister of Communities and the Minister of Public Infrastructure to investigate this inflated cost.
What is more disturbing is that one of the PPP big wigs in the Council seemed to have taken control over the NDC as its Chairman. He is using the NDC’s tractor to transport diesel to various areas of the Region, whereas it could have been used to benefit the NDC and its residents. But this is not allowed to happen since this big wig is also suffocating and obstructing the work of the NDC by not allowing the Chairman of the Works Committee to function. He wants to replace her since she is an APNU councilor and to install a PPP councilor in her place. This is a shame since Ms Pestano is a hard working individual who transcends all racial and political barriers.
We also feel that all the NDCs should be subjected to an audit since many councilors cannot fully understand what is going on and are easily hoodwinked by those who are more literate and conversant with the workings of the NDC.
Esar Chickrie, Former Chairman of the NDC/Councilor
Walter Bagot, NDC Councilor
R. Matadial, Former Chairman of the NDC
Gobin Persaud, resident

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