Region 5 APNU/AFC Councillors walk out of RDC meeting

The Region Five RDC monthly meeting was on Thursday disrupted for the fourth consecutive time as Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ovid Morrison led the Coalition Councillors out of the meeting, refusing to participate in deliberations until the Region 5 Chairman apologises to him.
The refusal of the REO to sit at RDC meetings has been having a negative impact on the residents of that region, in that development plans are at a standstill. Regional Chairman Vickchand Ramphal is accusing the REO of acting in an unconstitutional manner. The Chairman is of the view that, as Clerk of the House, the REO has a constitutional obligation to sit in the RDC meetings and do what a clerk is expected to do. He said Morrison has shown total disregard for the council, the people of the region, and does not seem to understand his function as it relates to the RDC.

Thursday’s walkout was triggered by events that transpired at an April meeting which resulted in the first walkout by the APNU representatives on the Regional Council. That act was in response to Chairman Ramphal calling for an investigation into allegations against the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Bath/Woodley Park Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).
At the April meeting, AFC Councillor Abel Seetaram had made allegations that an excavator assigned to the NDC by the NDIA to do work in the NDC area had been commandeered by the Chairman and Vice Chairman and deployed to do work to benefit lands the duo intended to use for their personal benefit.
According to Seetaram, he and the REO had observed the misuse of the machine first hand, and had demanded that it be used for the purpose for which it was sent to the area by the NDIA.
Ramphal said an investigation should be carried out in regard to the excavator being utilised for personal use, and evidence should be provided. But Morrison has said the fact that the Chairman is calling for an investigation into what he (Morrison) would have witnessed first-hand is questioning his integrity, and he is demanding that Ramphal apologise for so doing.
However, Ramphal told reporters on Thursday that the RDC is guided by parliamentary practices. He related that when there is an allegation about the drug bond, the Speaker of the House called for an investigation to be launched and for both sides of the house to be a part of it.
Ramphal said Thursday’s meeting was an opportunity for him to bring to the council many of the issues affecting the people of the region with the hope that the council would have been able to adequately address them.
“There are many issues out there that were brought to the attention of the various NDCs, and those problems that the NDC cannot handle would have come as recommendations at that meeting, which is supposed to be brought before the council so that the council can take action to address these issues, to reduce the problems that are affecting the residents of Region Number Five,” the Chairman noted.
Between January and July 2015, the coalition had refused to sit under the chairmanship of Ramphal, saying an apology is needed from him for not attending a function in the Region at which President David Granger was the guests of honour.
On August 1, while delivering an Emancipation Day speech at Ithaca, the President said there was no need for an apology, and asked the two sides to work together.
“I once again am calling on the REO, who is the Clerk of this House, to behave responsibly and to put the interest of the people at heart before his personal beliefs,” implored the Regional Chairman.
The Regional Chairman said that at the last Regional and Local Government Committee meeting, several NDCs Chairmen and Vice Chairmen expressed their disapproval over the way Morrison had been handling the affairs of the region.