PPP/C Councillor forced to resign
… others reprimanded in Essequibo night tickets fraud
A councillor was forced to resign and several others have been reprimanded following investigative findings into fraudulent activities during the most recently hosted Essequibo night.
At that event a total of 13 bogus entry tickets were uncovered and a committee was formulated to probe that occurrence and recommend disciplinary actions.
Yesterday, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud, who was part of the committee, revealed that not only were investigations completed but a report was presented to the Government.
Government, according to him, accepted the report and would have also acted based on its findings.
A number of officials, some employees of the regional administration among others, who were volunteers and were assigned tasks in relation to that activity, were in receipt of letters from Government.
The letters, according to Persaud, highlighted areas in which there were breaches and several persons were reprimanded for their lapses among other shortcomings.
Based on the investigative findings, it was recommended that one councillor of the Regional Democratic Council be asked to resign. That councillor, who represented the People’s Progressive Party Civic slate, has since resigned.
The report, Persaud disclosed, also contained clear documentation with regards to the principals and operational procedures that should inform any such activity undertaken by the Government in future.
According to the Minister, the fraudulent act had in fact benefited from generous publicity from the media and “I think it is only fair to give an update. First of all it was an unfortunate incident but it happened and we are hoping that we have all learned from that bit.”
He said that the checks and balances that were in place would have caused the interception and discovery of the bogus tickets at an early stage.
“If that didn’t happen it could have been 450 bogus tickets that could have been sold,” he speculated even as he insisted that no regional officials were found guilty of any wrongdoings save and except for the fact that they did not ensure that certain systems or procedures were rigidly enforced.
Turning his attention to the decision to merely reprimand some officials, the Minister admitted that “in a general way reprimand in itself, if there is compelling evidence to show guilt, might not really be the right thing but in this instance the investigation would have identified culpability, system failures and others so the actions taken were based on the evidence presence.”
This publication had reported that a Region Two Democratic Councillor for the ruling party was caught with close to 500 counterfeit tickets printed for the 10th hosting of the Essequibo Night and Agriculture Fair which was held in early October of last year.
The female councillor, this publication understands was arrested but was released on station bail hours after she was taken to the Aurora Police Station for questioning.
Emerging reports had indicated that the tickets had no indication of a stamp or as being produced by the hosts.
The counterfeit was detected after people who had purchased tickets from a booth managed by the ruling party were held up at the gate.
