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SRDC condemns Region 9 REO for misinforming media and threats made to Toshaos.
The South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) on Thursday condemned the actions of Region Nine’s Regional Executive Officer (REO) Carl Parker after he erroneously informed a media entity that a COVID-19 patient has escaped health officials before being placed into institutional quarantine.
REO of Region 9, Carl Parker
In its statement, the SRDC disclosed that is has been closely monitoring the situation in several villages and satellite communities located in the South Rupununi including Katuur, the latest community to be affected by the Coronavirus. The statement further pointed out that the information presented to the media by the REO did not reflect the current situation in the communities, specifically Potarinao and Katuur.
“Unlike the REO,” the statement said, “the SRDC has been in daily contact with the Toshao and others from Potarinao and satellite villages, and can confirm that no patients in Katuur had even been tested for COVID-19 until yesterday.”
“For the REO to state that there was a positive case coming from Katuur, South Rupununi and travelling to Tiger Pond, South Pakaraimas is premature and causing confusion among villagers and the overworked village council of Potarinao,” the SRDC said, adding that it was only yesterday that the medical team visited Katuur since the start of the pandemic.
Furthermore, the SRDC revealed that it has made several recommendations to the Region 9 COVID-19 Task Force for a more effective COVID-19 response, and to date nothing has been done in relation to those recommendations. Instead, at the latest Task Force meeting, the REO recommended that Toshaos now be charged for hiding their villagers who cross into Guyana. In addition to this, Toshaos were told that if case numbers rise in their villages, they can expect little help from the regional authorities.
The SRDC pointed out that REO’s baseless statements not only mischaracterize the source of the virus’s spread into the communities, but are a direct threat to violate the human rights and to deliberately abandon the government’s responsibility to protect the health and welfare of its citizens.
Moreover, the council noted that Toshaos have been tirelessly working towards keeping their communities safe from the virus, noting that the SRDC along with village councils have been regularly conducting monitoring trips in an effort to prevent illegal crossing at the 180km border with little support from the taskforce.
In expressing sentiments in the passing of two senior citizens in the Potarinao Village, the council implored the health authorities to increase the amount of testing kits in an effort to effectively monitor the number of cases coming out of the South Rupununi. Additionally, the council urged the Regional Taskforce to make a collaborative effort to closely monitor the vast open borders in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus in its communities.
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