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Rampant corruption in Region Six
Dear Editor,
Corruption in Region Six is taking a quantum leap and is mostly perpetrated by the AFC faction of the Coalition Government. There is a group of them who goes around in every nook and cranny promising a varied array of services for a fee whilst getting their clients to sign AFC membership forms. They will then supply these names to the AFC Leaders who will reward them.
Recently eight of these AFC members were lavishly awarded when they were given huge chunks of contracts worth in excess of $15 million each to slash and clean the shoulders of the Corentyne Highway. One of the ‘contractors’ is a member of the National Executive Committee and belongs to the Diaspora NY Chapter.
This same person is allegedly involved in a lot of corrupt and nefarious acts. Another one is the Chairman of the AFC’s Regional Management Committee while one is an AFC’s RDC Councilor and another is the CIIP Supervisor. It’s job for the boys.
Another point to note is that none of these ‘contractors’ have any experience or competence to do the job and one from Black Bush Polder actually sub-contracted the work to an experienced contractor.
Also there is a lot of substandard work done; the bush and grass are not cut properly and there are long stalks left standing. In some cases the garbage remains on the road sides. What system is in place for the Ministry of Infrastructure to certify these works? It is reported that there is a senior AFC member within the MoPI who was instrumental in the awarding of these contracts.
These men were simply handpicked by the AFC and given these contracts on a platter. There were no advertised tenders and did not follow any procurement rules. The AFC was most vociferous during the 2015 Elections Campaign calling for transparency, accountability and an end to corruption but today the AFC is in the forefront practicing wholesale corruption, cronyism and nepotism. All the procurement rules are thrown on the wayside. This is shameless no wonder the AFC in Region 6 is losing grounds rapidly.
Many of our qualified and experienced contractors made complaints to Mr. Gobin Harbhajan, the PM’s Regional Representative and when objections were made by Mr. Gobin, two of these persons made negative comments and even made reports to the #51 Police Station that they are being slandered.
He was made a target of a part of this nefarious gang infamously known as the Three Musketeers. But I am sure that Mr. Gobin will not be deterred he is an adamant fighter against corrupt practices.
As a member of the PNC and an NDC Councilor, I am calling on the various ministries to ensure that contracts awarded follow the procurement laws and that such contracts are awarded through the Tender Boards.
It is time to stop handpicking contractors so that the public trust and confidence in our procurement process can once again be maintained. The Honorable Junior Minister of Public Infrastructure, Ms Annette Ferguson, should look into these corrupt AFC ‘fly by night’ contractors as a matter of urgency. They should be fired immediately.
It is time our President put his foot down on these types of corruption.
Yours sincerely,
Raj Lakhram
#52/74 NDC Councilor
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