Government’s failure to respond to complaints against Region Four Regional Executive Officer Donald Gajraj over his handling of the preparation of the region’s budget signals that it is in support of his actions, Regional Chairman Daniel Seeram has argued.
Gajraj has been accused of limiting the participation of opposition APNU+AFC councillors in the process, thereby preventing them from securing funding for projects that may be beneficial to their constituents. The opposition, which leads the regional administration, is of the view that residents and constituency leaders should have been consulted on projects they will like to see included in the budget. It has been argued that bypassing grassroots consultations would be a grave injustice to residents.
Seeram, while speaking with Stabroek News on Sunday lamented that despite writing to President Irfaan Ali and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall and others, there has been no acknowledgement or indication of a reversal of Gajraj’s actions.
“Nothing has changed since we wrote to the President and others in government…we have tried to host meetings to understand what was proposed but we have not been successful,” he stated.
Nonetheless, he is hopeful that at the next statutory meeting the councillors will get an explanation on the projects submitted for funding in the upcoming budget.
Gajraj on Monday told this newspaper that he has followed the guidelines and submitted the necessary documentation to the Ministry of Finance.
In response to the accusations levelled against him, Gajraj had previously disputed the claims and told Stabroek News that Seeram had informed the council since July of the need for proposals on projects to be included in the 2022 budget allocations for the region. Seeram and the opposition councillors have claimed that they were only informed of the need for proposals two days before the deadline.
September’s statutory meeting ended abruptly after the REO, who is the clerk of the meeting, walked out after complaining of feeling threatened by the actions of Seeram.
The council had moved a motion for the standing orders to be suspended as there were no pressing matters on the agenda. The suspension was to allow the council to engage the REO on what projects were proposed in the upcoming budget.
However, as Gajraj moved the address the council, he was asked by Seeram to stand and do so, but the REO said he could not do so since he had an injured foot.
“… We asked if he can produce a medical to justify that, but it was here he got annoyed and got up and walked out the meeting. He did not limp or anything – he walked out,” Seeram said. Seeram had previously said that immediate attention needs to be given to the issue “and that the necessary corrective action begin forthwith,” while adding that “the commandeering” of the region’s budget will not be accepted by the region’s elected officials.
He said that they strive to work with the government to bring relief, assistance, and improvement to the lives and livelihood of citizens. Towards this end, Seeram has called on President Ali “to correct” what he described as a “malfeasance,” while stating that the elected representatives of the region must be consulted and that the budget must be submitted with the “full blessings” of the RDC.
He surmised that failing to address the concerns raised would only prove government’s “duplicity in their quest for a better Guyana,” while adding that lack of consultation and the “hijacking” of the democratic process reeks of dictatorship and the disenfranchising of the people.
“The act of Mr Gajraj is deliberate… He is usurping the work of the council. We don’t know what the projects that make up the budget are and he will have to justify to us how he arrived at the projects. There is a process that is followed in preparation of a budget. That includes, consultation, identification of projects and at the end, presentation of the budget to councillors. These things were never done and it will not sit with the council,” Seeram had previously told Stabroek News.
