2 APNU Region 6 Councillors thrown out of RDC

Two coalition Councillors from the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) list, have been thrown out of the Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
The two Councillors – Janet Samuels and Koshal Goberdan – lost their seats on Thursday.
Regional Chairman David Armogan, presiding over Thursday’s RDC, said they have not attended the RDC meetings for more than six months. Goberdan, he noted, had been living in the United States for the past eight months and had reportedly authorised someone to uplift his stipend in his absence.
Meanwhile, Samuels had not attended the RDC for 2018.
Under the Local Government Act, Councillors should automatically lose their seats after being absent from statutory meetings for three consecutive months without a valid excuse.
Armogan also issued a warning for Alliance For Change (AFC) Councillor Devin Sookraj, who he noted had also been absent from meetings last year more than he was present. It was disclosed that Sookraj has not attended any of the two meetings for this year either.
The Region Six RDC comprises 30 seats with the People’s Progressive Party holding 19 and the coalition, 11.
Meanwhile, Gobin Harbhajan, another Councillor who sits on the Government’s side and who is also the Prime Minister’s regional representative, in an invited comment on the issue, said the RDC is like a mini-Parliament in which the Government and the Opposition sides appoint Councillors to represent the people in the region.
He admitted that he had not seen Councillor Samuels for a very long period.
Harbhajan also took the opportunity to remind Councillors that they were put there to serve the people of Berbice.