Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Sonia Parag, addressed the ongoing issue of over 130 administrative vacancies within Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) during the consideration of the budget estimates on Tuesday.
According to the Minister, these vacancies are not “directly affecting” the operations of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Vinceroy Jordan asked Parag about the impact of these vacancies on the functioning of the region’s administrative services.
In response, Minister Parag clarified that while the region has approximately 130 vacancies, the absence of personnel does not significantly hinder the daily operations of the RDC.
Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Sonia Parag
“We would have had an allocation as well as the execution and implementation of several projects that we had as a work programme and work plan, and we’ve managed to do that. A lot of what the region is doing is in collaboration with central Ministries as well,” she said.
The Local Government and Regional Development Minister added that central Government is in no rush to fill these positions, stating “vacancies will exist across different sectors. There is no time when the public service is completely filled and all vacancies are filled. But as the need arises, then a recruitment process will be done for that particular vacancy to be filled, and if it’s an emergency or if someone dies, if someone retires, then obviously we will be looking to do that. But filling up already bloated public service, we have to look at key functioning areas in the different sectors to be able to make it effective. That does not necessarily mean filling over 130 vacancies”.
Further, while disaggregating her Ministry’s work programme for 2025, questions were also posed about new administrative positions, with Parag outlining that Region Five had created three new roles: Registry Supervisor, Field Auditor, and Procurement Officer.
MP Jordon raised concerns about other vacant positions and questioned the methods used to fill positions like the Assistant Regional Executive Officer.
“Mr Chair, it’s a contracted employee, so that was by contract and… the designation is Assistant Regional Executive Officer with a salary of $208,289,” the Minister replied.
She reiterated that while the region is currently facing a shortage of staff, the Minister reassured the National Assembly that the current vacancy rate does not impact the region’s ability to carry out essential tasks.
