REO cites emergencies as swearing in of Region 8 council cancelled again

A second attempt to swear-in the elected members of the Region Eight Regional Democratic Council (RDC) was aborted yesterday, fueling suspicion that efforts are afoot to try to sway the council member who may hold the balance of power.

Regional Executive Officer (REO) Mitzy Campbell cancelled a meeting scheduled for the Arthur Chung Confer-ence Centre (ACCC) yesterday morning.

Campbell told Stabroek News that the decision was taken because two of the 15 councillors “had emergencies”. She declined to name the councillors affected but added that all councillors will be informed of the date of the re-scheduled meeting once it is decided.

Asked why the meeting for the Region Eight RDC was scheduled to be held in Region Four, Campbell said it was a decision of central government and asked that Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall be contacted for an explanation.

Dharamlall, however, maintained that the ministry was not involved.

“We don’t do swearing in. I would not have been at the swearing in—that is the duty of the Regional Executive Officer,” he stated when contacted.

The councillors, meanwhile, were understandable frustrated that they have been uprooted for days and the main opposition members accused the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) of delaying the meeting in an attempt to sway the lone councillor from a third party.

“It is a trick. All the PPP/C councillors are dressed and at Sleep Inn right now. The intention was to get a few of these councillors to travel back to Region Eight and have elections for Chair and Vice Chair in their absence,” AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan told reporters.

He repeatedly maintained that if any of the APNU+AFC councillors had followed the directive to leave Region Four, the meeting would’ve been called and a PPP/C candidate installed.

“We thought that after having come all this way, leaving what we were doing, travelling to Georgetown for such an important exercise, it should’ve been done so that we can go back into the region and get to work,” Norma Sebastian told reporters at the ACCC. She explained that necessary work has been at a standstill for several months.

Sebastian explained that while they have been informed of the meeting via a letter of invitation and were flown to the city on Wednesday, it was not until 7.30 pm on Thursday that she was informed that the meeting had been cancelled.

Noel Thomas, another APNU+AFC councillor, supported Sebastian’s statement, while stressing that he was disappointed.

“We have our work to do and we are way behind the other regions who already have their RDC,” he said.

Jimmy James, of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), told Stabroek News that he had not been informed of a cancellation.

“She did not call me to cancel the meeting…I got the letter from the REO and we’re here since day before yesterday. We’re here yesterday and I see nothing happening. It’s a waste of time and we are here representing the people. We want to get this thing over with so we could do the people work,” he said, while suggesting there was an “ulterior motive” in locating the meeting in Region Four.

James, whose party secured 464 votes at the March 2 Regional Elections, currently holds the balance of power on the council since the government and main opposition each hold seven seats. His vote is, therefore, crucial to the elections of Chair and Vice Chair of the Council.

On September 28th, when the nine other regions held their first meetings, PPP/C candidates were elected Chair and Vice Chair in regions One, Two, Three, Five, Six and Nine, while APNU+AFC candidates were elected to lead in Regions Four, Seven and 10.

These Chairs and Vice Chairs were officially sworn in by President Irfaan Ali on October 29th.

Region Eight meanwhile had its September 28 meeting cancelled after several councillors tested positive for COVID-19.

Other elected councillors who were present yesterday include Graty Edwards, Collin Nicholson, Gordon Scipio, Nicodemus Francis and Hyacinth Joseph, all from the APNU+AFC.