A scheduled training session for the newly installed councillors of the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC) has become mired in controversy after Chairperson Daniel Seeram signed and stamped an invoice to secure the services of an event planner.
The invoice for $2,089,640 had been procured by Vice Chairman Samuel Sandy from a local event planning business.
While Seeram maintains that he acted on advice from the Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO) Deryck Persaud and the Regional Procurement Officer Corwin Grandison, Persaud has denied this claim.
“[We] were advised by the DREO and Procurement Officer that…given the short time between our meeting and the event, it would be advised to use an event coordinator as such was done at the RDC in the past. On receipt of the quotation for the event, another meeting was held…at that meeting the DREO stated that he did not see anything wrong with this information and told us he will take the document and put it through the procurement process, at that time the document was handed over to the DREO for him to pass it through the procurement system and then to the tender board for the ultimate approval,” Seeram said in a statement issued yesterday.
He maintained that he has done nothing wrong and stressed that he never sought to direct the expenditure but rather he granted approval for a training session to be held from November 19 to 20 and for an event planner to be hired to organise and execute the session.
Contacted for comment, DREO Persaud stressed that he was not involved in the process. “My involvement occurred after it was signed. When I received the invoice it was already signed by [Seeram]. This is a practice they inherited and they see it as the norm but it is not right,” Persaud said in an invited comment.
He explained that for any activity, such as the scheduled training session, it is the responsibility of the administrative arm of the Council to look into procurement but the Chairman and Vice Chairman executed the process themselves and then “expected me to go along with it.”
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall has reportedly launched an investigation into the situation, which Seeram has described as a poor attempt to besmirch his character
“Any investigation that must be conducted must be on how regional documents leave the RDC and end up in the minister’s grasp when they should have been undergoing the prescribed procurement procedure,” he stated, while adding that training for councillors is a line item extended to the council which was acted upon to further develop the knowledge of all councillors so as to execute their duties in an effective and efficient manner.
He maintained Sandy was given this task to coordinate this training and conference along with Councillor Desmond Morian, a representative of the PPP/C.
“Both sides of the table of councillors were consulted for this event and decisions were made having full consultation. Apart from preparation aspects of the event, guest speakers and lecturers were chosen from a wide range across society,” he concluded.
‘Left in the dark’
Seeram’s efforts to defend himself came a day after both he and Sandy accused the PPP/C government of politically undermining the work of RDCs in regions where the people have voted for the main opposition APNU+AFC coalition to govern their affairs at the regional level.
Seeram said that this is not only hindering development in the region but has caused a lackluster response and approach to the way the COVID-19 pandemic is being addressed and handled in Region 4 as well.
Responding to questions from the media at an APNU+AFC virtual press conference on Friday, Seeram said that while they began their tenure on good footing, the DREO is now overstepping his boundary. He said that while initially issues were minor and warranted disciplinary action by mere verbal reprimand, the DREO, Persaud, had to eventually be written to on issues of underperformance and insubordination.
Sandy said that the PPP/C must refrain from using regional officials to undermine the work of elected officials and said that the main opposition condemns the “unilateral, disrespectful and illegal” attempt by Persaud to reassign his vehicle.
This decision, he said, was “clearly aimed at undermining the work” of the people’s representatives but said that the coalition will challenge legally and politically the attempts by government to dominate and control local democratic organs.
He described the PPP/C as seeking to determine the plans and programmes of the regions which he notes violates Article 77 of the Constitution, which states, “The development programme of each region shall be integrated into the national development plans, and the government shall allocate funds to each region to enable it to implement its development programme.”
On this point, he said that not only is central government obligated to fund these programmes, but notes that the Constitution in Article 77A states that, “Parliament shall by law provide for the formulation of objective criteria for the purpose of the allocation of resources to, and the garnering of resources by local democratic organs.”
Against this background, he said that the APNU+AFC coalition calls on the PPP/C government to respect the constitution “and end its attempts to dominate and control” regions in which the people voted for the APNU+AFC over the PPP.
Seeram also suggested that because he is being undermined, he only knew about recent COVID-19 situations in the region from social media and the news, while adding that neither the Regional Health Officer nor the DREO had the courtesy to brief him on what has been happening. Because of this, he said that the “Council was left in the dark.”
He was at the time referring specifically to the spike of COVID-19 cases in Region Four, especially at St. Cuthbert’s Mission, Moblissa and among senior secondary school students who have recently returned to school at President’s College.
Seeram said that he is monitoring the situation and added that he did not know whether it is an act to keep information from the Council so that “Central government can send their ministers into these areas very ill-equipped to handle the issues.”
According to Seeram, when government realised the magnitude relaxing the COVID-19 measures has caused in the surge of cases, only then do they say that it is a matter for the RDC.
The Chairman said that he was personally against the decision to have schools reopened last Monday stating that schools were ill-equipped to be opened, especially those like President’s College with dormitory facilities.
He said that while schools would at some point had to have been reopened, there was no need to rush to so do at this time when there is an obvious surge in COVID infections.
Seeram said that this is one of the problems the Region is facing with government which he says does not seek guidance and advice on issues, but rather throws it back at the feet of the RDC. This, the Chairman said, will not be tolerated.
He said that the issue is with central government which continues to handle it badly.
On this point, he questioned whether transportation would be provided for students, what plans are in place to replenish sanitary care packages for them and teachers, and whether medical records for both students and teachers have been gathered to ascertain underlying medical conditions.
Meanwhile, Aubrey Norton, who is executive of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)—the largest faction of the Coalition—and Dr. Karen Cummings, who served in the Ministry of Health under the APNU+AFC, both said that the PPP government has been pleasing the business community at the cost of the health and safety of citizens during the pandemic.
Norton said that the government seems more concerned with its promises to the business community while expressing the view that for the government, a dollar becomes more important that human lives.
Dr. Cummings said that the PPP inherited a well-controlled handling of the COVID situation from the now-opposition but that weak policy decisions have caused the virus to spread astronomically and out of control.
Both Cummings and Norton said that containment measures were relaxed way too soon.
Cummings said that while individuals must take precautionary measures at a primary level to ensure their safety and that of their loved ones, the blame must fall squarely at the foot of the PPP/C government which at the macro level is responsible for ensuring the enactment of policies which will solidify the safety of all citizens.
