Region 5 Chairman complains about changes to budget

– says ratified budget document was not properly perused

Chairman of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Vickchand Ramphal, has accused his Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ovid Morrison and team of sidetracking him and his Vice Chairman, Rion Peters and presenting the proposed regional budget for 2019 without proper perusal.

In a letter addressed to Finance Minister Winston Jordan dated Tuesday, September 11, 2018, Ramphal called for the Minister’s intervention into the matter involving the region’s budget proposal.
According to Ramphal, the Regional Democratic Office ratified its 2019 budget proposal at a special meeting held on Monday July 23, 2018, whereby changes were made in the various line items.
However, he said it is mandatory that copies of the ratified budget be circulated by the REO to the Office of the Regional Chairman and Regional Vice Chairman for thorough perusal before being presented to the Finance Ministry. However, this did not happen.
According to the Regional Chairman, the REO refused to make available copies of these important documents and also failed to inform the Regional Chairman and Regional Vice Chairman of the planned Budget meeting with the Finance Ministry.
Ramphal said the formulation of the region’s budget was conducted through a democratic process, whereby consultations were held throughout the region by the RDC, placing the interest of its citizens first.
He reminded that it is imperative that the Council through the offices of the Regional Chairman and Regional Vice Chairman be fully engaged in all the budget processes so as to fully represent the interest of the people of Region Five.
As such, the Chairman said the Council does not confirm to the presentation made by the Regional Executive Officer and team, since it may not represent the decision of Council nor the needs of the people of Region Five.
He therefore called on Minister Jordan to put measures in place to correct this issue.