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Ministry of Communities accuses Berbice Councillor of politicking

Nov 12, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter written by Chairperson of the Kilcoy/Hampshire NDC, Mr. Haseef Yusuf, captioned, ‘The mantra of local government empowerment is to deceive,’ (KN, Nov 04). In his letter Mr. Yusuf makes erroneous and misleading statements not the least of which calls into question the administration’s commitment to local democracy, local government autonomy and the necessary empowerment of Guyana’s local democratic organs. Please permit me, Editor, to address the matters raised by Mr. Yusuf.
It is my sincere belief that there can be no doubt in the mind of any fair-minded, right-thinking citizen that the government is determined to give effect to the laws which mandate a robust local democratic system. The administration’s actions demonstrate this fact. The previous regime had denied the people of Guyana their constitutional right to choose their local leaders for some two decades; this government, on the other hand, has held local government elections within months of being elected to office. This, in spite of the opposition PPP’s unrelenting efforts to prevent it from happening. As relates to this point, I can only conclude, therefore, that Mr. Yusuf is either blinded by political bias or is being deliberately disingenuous.
Mr. Yusuf’s other primary area of contention relates to the following: The NDC had requested and received from central government a $4 million subvention for the construction of roads. The Regional Tender Board awarded the ensuing contract to a contractor. Mr. Yusuf states that the District Tender Board should have made the decision, not the Regional Tender Board. He claims too, that he had communicated the preference and desire of the council for the works to be done by the NDC using their equipment to the Regional Democratic Council.
The facts are as follows:
1) TheKilcoy/Hampshire NDC does not have the capacity to conduct even minor road works much less build roads to the tune of millions of dollars. It follows that a contractor with the requisite capacity had to have been engaged.
2) A District Tender Board was not in place therefore, the task of awarding the contract fell to the Regional Tender Board.
3) Contrary to Mr. Yusuf’s insinuations, the preference of the council for the works to be done by the NDC (for which the NDC had no capacity) was communicated to the Regional Executive Officer (Ag), Mr. Claude Henry, after the contract had already been awarded.
Finally, Mr. Yusuf states, “What is even more worrying is the fact that we do not know what projects will be done and by whom and at what cost.” Editor, the Ministry rejects this statement unequivocally. When proposals are submitted to the Ministry by an NDC they are either analysed and approved as is, or they are returned to the NDC for clarification or alteration. The Ministry is not in the business of altering proposals nor of generating proposals for NDCs. As the Minister has said repeatedly, the Ministry and the administration as a whole is committed to respecting the authority of local democratic organs. And the Ministry of Communities has implemented policy in line with that philosophy. I trust that Mr. Yusuf would desist hereafter, from attempting to mislead the public by publishing material which he, as a councillor, certainly knows are less than factual.
Mark DaCosta
Research Officer to the Minister
Ministry of Communities

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