Have we gotten value for taxpayers' monies?

Have we gotten value for taxpayers’ monies?

Oct 30, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

GECOM spent Three Billion dollars on an ill-advised House to House (H2H) registration exercise in 2019. This exercise was truncated after 370,000 persons were registered. The H2H was deemed a ‘must’ by David Granger who said “it is evident from the evidence provided in the meeting this morning that the List is bloated… given the size of our population and much attention is focused on sanitizing that List” after meeting with the GECOM commission on the 14th March 2019. Today, 29 days after the Claims and Objections period began, there have been thirty-two objections to a list that the APNU/AFC claimed was bloated by more than Two Hundred Thousand names. We spent Three Billion to find Thirty-Two names, the ‘bloat’ , at the cost of Ninety-Three Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand dollars per name. For Ten dollars I could have advised that ‘dead people can’t vote anymore’. Have we gotten value for taxpayers’ monies?
A total of Eight Billion dollars has been given to GECOM to conduct operations in 2019; for this massive expenditure, we have been faced with constant efforts to confuse and frustrate the electorate. For example, I wrote to the Chairman of GECOM to complain that my H2H form was unsigned by the GECOM enumerator, Madam Claudette Singh is yet to reply with even an acknowledgment of my concern. The recent publication of two-classes of H2H data during the period of Claims and Objections is nothing short of an attempt to throw the electorate into a state of confusion and disarray. The clearly biased operations at this constitutional body make the need for reform by removing the task of maintaining the National Register of Registrants from the purview of GECOM and examining if we need a permanent GECOM Secretariat a matter of priority for the next administration. The wanton waste of state resources must be curtailed; the billions wasted by GECOM would be much better spent on much needed social programmes nationwide.
Editor, as GECOM seems intent on confusing, so must others must work on providing clarity; in that vein, I offer the following advice:
1. If you will attain the age of 18 by 31st December, check that your name is on the preliminary voters’ list (PLE). The PLE is printed and posted at your area GECOM office, alternatively, contact your party activists and ask them for assistance.
2. If you are on the list (PLE), ensure that your name is spelled correctly and your address is correct.
3. If you are not on the list, visit that GECOM office with your birth certificate and get registered.
4. If you encounter difficulties, contact a party representative or lawyer for assistance.
5. If your address is incorrect, visit the GECOM office and request a transfer. Alternatively, ask a party activist to assist with the transfer process.
6. If you encounter any difficulties dealing with GECOM staff, report this to an activist and seek assistance to get redress of any problem you may be experiencing.
Once the right to exercise franchise by way of ballot is secure, the citizen should make every effort to so do.

Respectfully
Robin Singh

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