APNU/AFC Councillor apologises for false remarks about No 52/74 NDC

One day ago Guyana Times reported that a Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) has not been providing needed services with the subvention it received from Central Government, which included a quantity of crusher run, and the Communities Ministry had taken one year to give approval for the Number 52/74 NDC to purchase laterite even as residents had complained about potholes.

The story featured an A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change NDC Councillor Lakeraj Singh saying that the supplier currently did not have laterite, which is used as a binding agent for crusher run (crushed stones), in stock because of the closing of the Corentyne River by Surinamese authorities as part of measures being implemented by the Dutch-speaking territory to stop the spread of novel coronavirus. Former Member of Parliament David Subnauth was also interviewed and said that the quantity of crusher run received in 2019 was not equal to the quantity currently being stored.
However, after the story was posted on Guyana Times’ Facebook page and residents criticised Singh’s comments, he subsequently confessed that he provided inaccurate information and apologised for remarks he made in the article.
In a social media post, Singh said: “I have learnt that auditors coming from the Auditor General Office to check on the quantities of crusher run that is currently lying in front of the Number 66 crematorium entrance.
“I was informed that the letter for the approval for the usage of crusher run was not never received. But was misguided by a staff in the office…I do apologise for making that error.”
Singh had said in the initial article there were other NDCs using crusher run without mixing it with laterite as a binding agent. In fact, he noted that the Number 52/74 NDC had done so in the past and questioned why after one year the NDC had not utilised the part of its 2019 subvention which had come in the form of crusher run.
In another post on Wednesday, Singh said he was told that some of the material was used. He said the NDC Overseer told him that residents had removed some and he questioned whether permission was given for them to do self-help workers.
He added that the auditors would have to go to the areas where the Overseer said he gave residents permission to use the crusher run and determine whether they had used the equivalent of the quantity missing.
Some $2.3 million worth of the stones was placed at Number 66 and left lying there for months while residents complained of poor infrastructure.