Regional officials urged to put the people, instead of political affiliation first
Written by GINA Editor, Published in Ministry of Communities, Georgetown, GINA, March 5, 2016, http://www.gina.gov.gy/home/index.php/news/news-by-ministries/ministry-of-communities/item/5079-regional-officials-urged-to-put-the-people-instead-of-political-affiliation-first
Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan addressing the meeting in the Region 6 RDC boardroom at New Amsterdam
This call was made by Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan, during two separate meetings, which brought together all members, of both councils, in their respective RDC boardrooms, yesterday.
Minister Bulkan along with officials from the Ministry of Communities has been visiting the regions to have frank discussion with the councillors on the critical issues in their councils, which are hampering their effective -functioning.
Arising, out of the concerns raised, Minister Bulkan took the opportunity to implore upon the councils, the imperative, that, in the absence of cooperation and collaboration, “what they will be doing is, is handicapping themselves from bringing about the improvements in living conditions and development that they have towards the residents of the regions.”
Region Five, , an impasse ha developed between the two sides of the council, where the council has been unable to have meetings for two months due to an action by the Regional Chairman following a visit by President David Granger in November of 2015 to the region.
The Regional Chairman chose not to attend that activity and this has led to very strong feelings on the part of many councilors who have refused to participate in meetings of the RDC.
“These are not always easy issues when we have two opposite sides,” Minister Bulkan observed. “I have seen it myself as a member of the last Parliament where the divisions seem very difficult to break down these barriers but it behooves us, it is incumbent upon us to be able to break down these barriers and to work together in a cooperative and collaborative manner,” he added.
The Communities Minister reminded the councilors that the outcome of the May 2015 General and Regional election should be behind them. “Our attention must be turn to the issues and task at hand; the people of the regions,” he said.
“It is the interest of the people that are paramount,” he stressed, as he called on the councilors to focus on bringing about development.
The councilors were also advised that the coalition government is not about having any antagonistic relationship with the councils or within the councils. “It is not about retribution, it is not about revenge…we want to foster reconciliation, we want to foster cooperation,” Minister Bulkan assured.
He also pledged that the coalition government will not repeat the mistake of its predecessor. Minister Bulkan assured the administration is determined and committed to moving away from the ‘strong holding of the management of the council and regions’ that was practiced in the past.
“We will go forward with a different model of decentralization,” he said. He assured the councilors, that the new relationship which the administration is seeking to build with the councils will not be a ‘superficial one’. He outlined some of the concrete initiatives and activities that the administration has effected since taking office to establish and cement this new relationshipof cooperation with the regions. These include encouraging and working with the regions to develop plans of action for each region’s development and the naming of a date for local government elections, which provides for democratic renewal.
Minister Bulkan visit to the regions also allowed for him and his team to have frank assessments of the operations of the regional tender boards, given the experience relating to the execution of the 2015 capital projects and activities, where there were certain deficiencies and defects.
In addition to having a full examination of all of the capital projects that are part of the 2016 budget, the teams also meet with the programme heads and the members of the regional tender boards. The engagement with the latter related to the operations and functioning of the regional tender, given , the many accusations that the regional tender process is not fair or free of improprieties and irregularities
The minister impressed upon the members of the tender board the need to ensure that the process was characterized by a high degree of integrity and that there was impartiality, efficiency. The members of the tender board were also reminded that they have to be prepared to be subjected to the scrutiny of the regional councillors who have a role and responsibility to ensure that in the spending of the tax dollars that there is value for money and ntegrity in the process.
Other issues brought to the attention, of the team during the engagements with the RDC Councillors were related to the functioning of the Neighborhood Democratic Councils (NDCs.)
Minister Bulkan has promised to examine on a case by case basis some of the concerns that were raised in relation to conducts of the NDCs overseers, to determine if there is any validity and if there is any need for any disciplinary actions. During the engagement, the RDC Councillors reported that a number of the NDCs are not operating as efficiently as they should be as a result of the actions and conduct of some of the overseers.
