Region 8 machines were left at the residence of the heavy duty mechanic for repairs

Dear Editor,

I usually do, to my detriment and that of my administration, allow the many attacks on the regional administration to go unchallenged by not sharing with the public the facts on those stories. This is done for the main reason that the stories and accusations are so absurd and so devoid of truth and reasoning, that I did not see the need to respond. However, it was brought to my attention that there are those who, like the councillor, have difficulty with reasoning and the rational, or those who are gullible. Of course there are those few birds of a feather, like the councillor, who find pleasure in boosting their political egos by peddling innuendo and deception.

I refer to a headline appearing in the Stabroek News of Wednesday, January 7, captioned ‘Region 8 machinery being misused for private work.’ Not only is this headline designed to be devious, misleading, disparaging and libellous to the Regional Executive Officer, the story also reeks of lies, deceit and fanciful notions. These aspersions are levelled by a well-known person who thrives on a pseudo-crusade of being a representative of the people, ie, regional councillor Mohamed Gafoor. Yet surprisingly, this regional councillor is the one who makes the least, or should I say, the most vacuous contribution to any Regional Democratic Council meetings or such like. While some issues may need genuine attention, councillor Gafoor is the first to add a political spin to them, without having or ever offering or being capable of offering a solution to those issues, as befits his role as a councillor.

The story which was published was so fallacious, I often wonder whatever happened to fairness and balance. The councillor raises issues of roads, water and of course being ignored by the regional administration. The indisputable facts are as follows:

The private residence referred to by the Councillor, is the residence of the contracted heavy duty mechanic and that of two contracted machine operators. The regional administration does not have the requisite workforce for in-house operation and maintenance.

The photograph as submitted by the councillor was taken in July of 2014. This was during the time the mini-excavator, single bulldozer and truck were used to dig several ponds and springs in the community of Campbelltown, as requested by residents. The same machines were used to clear and excavate a spring at the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory. The machines became inoperable on separate occasions, and were unable to be moved to the administration’s compound, thus were left for repairs at the heavy duty mechanic.

The machines were at no point engaged in any private work, especially carrying water for the REO, neither at his office nor his residence. The machines while operable were engaged in work for the Campbelltown Village Council, which provided fuel and operators; and the Mahdia and Princeville Roads as requested by commuters and vendors of the Arcade at Mahdia for the delivery of sand owed to them by the previous administration.

The truck and excavator will be fully operational shortly, as major repairs were done in November and December 2014 to the assets.

The regional administration and residents, along with myself, eagerly await the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment’s (MNRE) funding for two major projects which will see the construction of roads in Mahdia and the construction of a new water system. These projects are expected to commence shortly. Bills of Quantity for both projects were prepared by the Public Works Department and submitted. The administration continues to pursue the MNRE. This Councillor has never used his office, to engage the regional administration in any form to provide any proposals or suggestions whether orally or in writing, or to pinpoint any issues of regional importance. I am happy that others still do.

While I appreciate that the councillor or any resident, as a matter of fact, has a right to bring issues to the forefront, I would hope that this is done in a factual and balanced way. Little or no mention was made by the councillor of the forty-two million dollars the administration spent in 2014 on roads in Region 8, or the hundreds of millions spent by the MNRE and the Ministry of Public Works and Communication to bring the Linden-Mahdia route to the best state that it has ever been in to date. Travel time has been significantly reduced.

No mention was made by the councillor about the continued vandalism and destruction of our water supply system by rogue miners. Within the last ten days, repairs were done four times to the distribution line due to vandalism. The water network is used to propel jets that are used to mine the access roads in the area.

These are all issues to which the administration would like the councillors to pay attention in addition to voicing their concerns, but to no avail; once the Regional Executive Officer’s name is not involved, the issue has no media or political merit for them. The concern and issues of the residents of Region 8 are then conveniently ignored.

 

Yours faithfully,

Ronald Harsawack

Regional Executive Officer

Potaro Siparuni

Region 8