3 Region 1 CDC Chairmen reportedly not paid for years

Jul 17, 2022 News

---

…as others receive stipend

By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – Over the years, the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference has served as a forum to shed light on some of the specific issues affecting Indigenous village leaders who may not always be properly positioned to share their concerns with the government and nation at large. However, three Community Development Council (CDC) Chairmen, stationed in Region One, at the very top of the country’s map, are hopeful that after years of begging consecutive governments to address their wages concern, that the media could play a helping hand in speeding up this process.

This is the case of Winston Peters, Simon Roberts and Richard Anthony, all CDC Chairmen in Region One who noticed this newspaper conducting interviews with Toshaos at the recently concluded NTC Conference and decided to secure their chance to flag the issue.

The gentlemen complained that they have not received any stipend for the work they have done over the years for their respective communities, even though others are being paid by the government to carry out the same functions.

Peters, who serves in Arau told Kaieteur News, “Well I am the community Chairperson and I do a lot of work in my community. Whatever the community needs, I go out to the Ministry and seek the effort without any stipend or anything like that.” For the past two years, the Chairman who appeared to be in his late 50’s said he has not received a cent. Further he explained, “We raise it every time we come here to the (NTC) Conference, this gon make the third time and we raising this all the time and them ain’t giving nothing, them ain’t giving nothing. Them ain’t giving no answer.”

The Arau Chairman told this newspaper that at one time, a Permanent Secretary of one of the Ministries told him that the village Committee did not have funds to pay him.

However, the frustrated Peters said, “Right now, we are suffering from this climate that we have. Floods completely (damaged the land) and even if it (crops) is growing, we ain’t getting nothing cause the rainfall.”

Faced with the same difficulty, only for 10 times longer, Unity Square Chairman, Richard Anthony said he has been forced to do other small jobs to take care of his family, as promises to deliver a stipend to his home continue to fail. For 20 years, Anthony said he was never paid by the government. Although he remains hopeful, the man related that the impact of climate change has been crippling even his alternative efforts to rake in any money to take care of his small family in Mabaruma, Region One. “The farm is down and out right now, so it’s hard on me right now as a Chairperson cause I does got to bring out the monthly report for CSO, voluntarily I do it. When we doing up proposals, I does got to come out till in Georgetown here but we would take a little to clear we expense to come and go back,” he explained.

Anthony said he takes care of his six grandchildren, with the help of his youngest son – just 17 years old. He was forced to take on the responsibility after the children’s mother passed away.

He too complained that he raised this issue with the government before. In fact, the CDC Chairman shared, that he has been complaining of not being paid since 2006, however, in a bid to compensate him, he was reportedly given a job from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to supervise a job for one year and six months.  “Them put me as a supervisor for one year, six months without getting pay again and I leff the wuk. I tell them I can’t do it because I can’t do something where expense coming out and (I don’t have) no income from nowhere.”

To make matters worse, the Chairman said he was not afforded an opportunity to raise this matter personally as during this year’s conference, a Toshao from Red Hill village was identified to speak on behalf of all the Chairmen in the Region.

The community representative said he is on the brink of giving up hope. “The elder person than me in the community  or even younger than me is encouraging me to keep on but I say this might be the last session this year because I am 61 years of age and I does trouble with diabetes 10 years now,” he related.

Simon Roberts, another CDC Chairman said he too has been working without a stipend for several months.

Kaieteur News also caught up with a CDC Chairman in the same administrative region who shared that he has been receiving a $15,000 stipend to carry out his duties. Norbert Abrams from Lower Blackwater village explained, “Every month, me does go and draw me lil stipend but yesterday (Monday last), the Minister said that they raise the Toshao them money and the Chairperson them money.” He said he was clueless as to why the community representatives were not being treated equally.

In addition, he reported that the Toshao that represented the Chairmen in the Region One district was told by the Ministers that the matter would be addressed. “The Minister them say that how they got to look bout it deh. They go see what they can do because the Toshao told the Minister them that you know everybody working hard and them need lil money because watch how all ah we deh here and them nah getting no money,” Abrams reported.

On Saturday, efforts to contact the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai proved futile. A credible source within the Ministry, however, told this publication that CDC matters usually fall under the remit of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.

The NTC Conference this year was held between July 11 and 15 under the theme: “Good Governance and Fast Tracking Amerindian Development.”  The five-day event was hosted at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Georgetown after a two year interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

 

 

---

---