Regional Executive Offi-cer (REO) of Region Six Dr Veerasammy Ramayya continues to defend his appointment, saying he is no “party hack” and will work for the betterment of the people of Berbice.
The controversial ap-pointment last month of Dr Ramayya, who had been an AFC Member of Parliament, has been heavily criticised and strongly opposed by the opposi- tion PPP/C, which says the former reo—Paul Ramrattan—was not a political appointee and was in no way affiliated with the party.
But according to the new REO, the real reason the PPP/C objected to his appointment is because he was instrumental in the AFC making inroads in its voting base in Berbice. He also said that on the day he had announced he was leaving the AFC he received a call from former president Donald Ramotar and they spoke about him joining the PPP/C.
“If I am so bad, why would you want me in your party?” he questioned.
Ramayya’s appointment came shortly after he announced that he was quitting the AFC, while charging that Berbicians were not adequately represented in the APNU+AFC coalition government. At the time, he had said he was offered an assistant position in either the Ministry of Agriculture or the Office of the Prime Minister.
However, he said he declined the offer made to him by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the AFC. “Moses told me that they would give me one staff and pay me $180,000 per month. Be my own chauffeur and use my own vehicle…? That is not (an acceptable) position for me for what I have done for the party,” he had said at the time.
In a recent interview with Stabroek News, Ramayya said he had not sent in an official resignation to the party but stressed that he did not reject the job offer because of the remuneration but rather because in that position he would have unable to serve the region for which he has been fighting for years.
“… The job would not have given me leverage for the work I wanted to do as it entailed me gathering information. I was willing to re-open my clinic and work because I could maintain myself,” Ramay-ya, an herbal doctor, said.
He said with his new position, he can better serve the residents of Berbice and that he has already begun to make changes that would see the people of the region receiving better service.
“I reject the label that I am a party hack. If the party have to give me directive, I would resign once it could lead to corruption. I would have to work in the prescribed framework of the law and that is how I would execute my job,” he said.
Questions had been raised about Ramayya’s qualifications, which are not in sync with what the Ministry of Communities had asked for in a recent advertisement for REOs. According to that advertisement, applicants must have a Master’s Degree in Administration, with five years managerial experience or a first degree in Management or Public Management or any other related field with 10 years’ managerial experience in the public sector. Exper-ience in auditing/knowledge of regional administrative systems would also be an asset, it also said.
Ramayya said he is aptly qualified for the job, while pointing out that he would have served three years as a parliamentarian, which would have exposed him to the workings of regional administration. He is also the holder of two Bachelor’s Degrees, a Master’s Degree and a PhD. His studies would have been in social work, psychology and political science and apart from operating his herbal clinic, he also worked in real estate.
“This whole thing has nothing to do with my qualification but the threat I pose to the PPP/C party because they know my capabilities,” he stated, while stressing that he just wants to improve the life of Berbicians.
In defending his government’s appointment of supporters to the position of REOs, Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan had told this newspaper that the new officers should be judged on their performance and argued that the past REOs went about their duties in a partisan manner.
‘Not a setback’
Meanwhile, Dr Ramay-ya said he would not allow the criticisms to set back the improvement of the region although he noted that the task before him would not be easy since most of the regional officials are closely affiliated with the PPP/C and may want to stymie progress in the region.
However, he said he is quite satisfied with the work done so far since he took office, including the building of dams, the cleaning of drains and canals and remedial work in the compounds of schools. Some of these works, he said, were neglected for the past 20 years or so. He also said that too many young people in the region are using drugs and there are not enough recreational facilities to steer them away from deviant behaviour.
Since taking office too, Ramayya said, he has had to deal with a “few dilemmas” as it relates to the tender board, whose members would have to be put in place after the Permanent Secretary of the Communities Ministry is satisfied that the correct procedures are followed. He said he would want to region to be used as an example for other regions as it relates to transparency.
“I intend that whatever mandate is given to me as REO and whatever happens in this region that I am accountable for it and when I put my feet down on certain conditions it means that somebody has to give answers,” he said.
Ramayya noted that an issue where he has had to put his foot down was the signing of about 30 vouchers for payments to contractors who would have conducted work in Black Bush Polder. He refused. The REO said the vouchers amounted to millions of dollars but when he inspected the work done in the area, it was shoddy. The contractors were contracted to clean the trenches and did this by spraying the grass in the trench even though, according to the REO, they would have been warned against using pesticides because of their harmful effects.
Further, he said, the grass was not pulled out but left in the trench, which means that the two new pumps recently installed could be damaged by “sucking up the dead grass roots.”
“They were paid to clean the trench and not spray it and I will not sign those vouchers until the trenches are cleaned,” he said, while noting that it is because of his stand that some persons protested in front of his office.
The new REO said he has also found that over 40% of the region’s machines are not working yet fuel is being claimed for them.
He also referred to the recent theft from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) regional office and he reiterated that only one guard was on duty when there should have been five.
Security for the regional building is provided by Home Safe Security and according to Dr Ramayya he was told that for the last 15 months the division did not have a supervisor who would have gone around and ensured that the buildings were adequately protected.
He said he would now have to investigate how long the issue of inadequate security guards existed and also to ascertain whether the guard service was being paid for services it was not providing. Following the investigation, he plans to recommend that a new security service that could provide “the proper service is hired.”
