Political appointee in Amerindian Affairs Ministry refuses to vacate office

An advisor who was employed by the previous Administration has been displaying a great level of reluctance in vacating an office issued to him at the Amerindian Affairs Ministry.

Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai on Saturday disclosed that political appointees have been refusing to give up assets which were loaned to them in their tenure.
However, the most blatant case was the said advisor, who once served the former subject Minister. Sukhai pointed out that the person refused to lodge keys for both an office and a vehicle owned by the State.
“There are some difficulties in staff who were politically appointed and form part of the ministerial secretariat who are refusing to give up office space and even hand over assets that do not belong to them. One of the most active case providing the Permanent Secretary with headache is the advisor to the Minister who has refused to bring in the keys for vehicles and keys to the office.”
She reiterated that this individual is not an employee and is not paid by the Ministry but rather the Ministry of the Presidency. This has created some level of disturbance as the new Administration makes its transition into power.
“He is not an employee of the Ministry and it is even worrisome when you’re not paid by the Ministry to want to lock down an office,” the new Minister expressed.
The new People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has denied claims of witch-hinting of public servants but instead is trying to retrieve State resources from political appointees under the former APNU/AFC regime, whose services are no longer required.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has strongly affirmed that no public servant has been fired since he took the Oath of Office on August 2, 2020. The Head of State noted that a number of APNU/AFC political appointees have tendered their resignation and several others have been advised accordingly.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira had also assured that public servants are not being targeted by the new Administration – as is being claimed by the APNU/AFC coalition.
In fact, less than one week ago, Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall revealed that his predecessor, Ronald Bulkan, paid over $800 million to 56 staffers for doing absolutely no work during his five-year term in office.
He found that there were 23 staff members in Bulkan’s Secretariat earning a total of $7,730,000 per month. The Minister noted that those persons are all active members of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.
In providing a breakdown of the beneficiaries of Bulkan’s mismanagement, Dharamlall explained that long-time PNC member and former Councillor at the Georgetown Municipality, Oscar Clarke served as “Special Ministerial Advisor on Local Government” and he was being paid $418,674 per month along with a non-taxable duty allowance of $25,000 and $10,000 telephone allowance.
Rupert Hopkinson, also listed as a Special Ministerial Advisor, earns $376, 807 per month, $70,000 in non-taxable and a telephone allowance of $10,000. Carmichael Thorne and Samuel Parris also served as Ministerial Advisors with Thorne earning $488,250 plus 30,000 in non-taxable allowance and telephone and travelling allowance of $20,000. Thorne’s salary and perks amount to just under $540,000 per month for doing absolutely no work, according to Dharamlall.