There is rampant corruption in Region 8

Dec 19, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor;
I am a resident of the North Pakarimas Sub-Region #1 of Region Eight and have been residing here most of my life. I have observed that since this coalition government came into office the allocations in the regional budgets have increased significantly and I would like to personally commend them for this. However, these increases have little or no effect in our region, as a great part of this money is expended by squander and corruptions.
One thing I can equivocally say is that we are worse off than when the PPP/C was in Government. Corruption is the game of the day here, from the construction and repairs of buildings to the provision of goods and service. Most of these contracts they claimed they did here are contracts that never existed. From the construction of buildings, revetment works, repairs of buildings, repairs of pipelines, provision of goods and services and the list goes on.
This can be easily verified. I was told that one contractor who lives in Mandia Sub-Region 2 of Region Eight for this year alone was awarded thirteen (13) contracts to do works in the North Pakarimas Sub-Region 1, none of which was done, yet he received his full payment. I even learnt that many contracts were awarded to contractors who have no knowledge of them; the payment is then collected by a senior officer.
The North Pakarimas Sub-Region 1 of Region Eight is the most difficult region in Guyana to do construction due to the difficulties of accessing and transporting building materials, yet by the second quarter of the year it has completed over 90 of its capital works.
This alone should have raised some eyebrows. However, that was not to be. It is in the Number 1 position of the Ministry of Finance Performance Index. How on earth can this be? This has to be the joke of the century. A responsible Government would have someone monitoring these projects. However, that was not to be, which gives me the impression that these guys are working in collusion with central government.
I can recall when the now government was in opposition there were lots of cries from them about corruption with the PPP Government, and they promise that should they be elected they will stop corruption. However, from what we are seeing here, that was just another empty campaign promise. I don’t know about the other regions, but judging from what is taking place here, I think I can safely say that the level of corruption that has taken place here since this government took office, is greater in this region in the 18 months this government has been in office than the 23 years when the PPP/C was in Government.
I personally felt as though, my relatives and I did a disservice to ourselves by voting for this coalition Government. What I would like this government to know is that we will not be fooled again and come 2020 if they don’t get their act together now, they will receive a wake-up call from the residents here.
Very often we hear that this government is conducting forensic audits. What I would like the President to do if he is really serious about corruption as he claims is to conduct a forensic audit in Region Eight since his government took office to now. Failing to do so would just say to us that these forensic audits they are conducting are only a political ploy to embarrass the PPP.
The good life which government has promised appears to be for only the top party members and the senior government officers in this region. These officers work for small salaries, where are they getting the money to go on these vacations? And how can they go without permission from the Public Service Commission? I’ve even heard a senior officer sent a chartered plane from a village in the North Pakarimas to collect a pair of shoes he forgot in Mandia.
John Williams

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

One thought on “There is rampant corruption in Region 8”

Johnaton Dudhnath December 19, 2016 at 8:37 pm

I have worked in the region as an acting senior official and this is so true…i have even voiced and penned my views and nothing significant was done…still these officials are doing what they do best…adding to corruption…please editor let the voice of the people of Potaro Siparuni be heard. Just maybe we should have Mr. Sharma visit Region 8…#voiceofthepeople…

Comments are closed.

Latest News