Region 5 contemptuous RDC Councillor and the thin-skinned REO

Dear Editor,
With the resignation of the former tyrant of Region 5, I had hoped that those elected to serve the people would have finally put aside their confrontational behaviour and work to bring real development to the region. However, it seems like the other contemptuous Councillor and the thin-skinned REO are determined to continue the disruptive agenda of non-cooperation with the Regional Chairman.
Let me make my position emphatically clear: I am not writing this letter in defence of the Regional Chairman, for I was not present at the RDC statutory meeting when APNU+AFC Councillor Abel Seetaram lodged his complaint with the Regional Chairman about the misuse of NDIA equipment. But I write to express my profound disgust at what is clearly a deliberate and continuous effort to stymie development in Region 5 in order to make the PPP-controlled NDCs look bad.
For seven long months in 2016, the now disgraced former APNU+AFC Councillor Carol Joseph, aided and abetted by the despicable RDC Councillor Abel Seetaram, had successfully spearheaded a boycott of the RDC statutory meetings, crippling all forms of development in the region. This happened because Joseph thought that Regional Chairman Vickchand Ramphall had been disrespectful to the President when he failed to attend a handing-over ceremony to which he was not invited.

This lawlessness was encouraged by REO Ovid Morrison, who uses ‘the power of the purse’ to manipulate and dictate which communities in Region 5 are more deserving of attention, so as to accomplish the APNU+AFC objectives in the region. The way I see it, this “crisis” could have been avoided if protocol had been followed.
APNU/AFC Councillor Abel Seetaram, a well-known trouble-maker, received information that an RDC excavator on loan to the Bath/Woodley Park NDC was being misused for private use. Instead of reporting this to the Regional Chairman as protocol dictates, he went to see the REO, Mr Ovid Morrison.
Without informing the Regional Chairman, and without inviting him to the scene of the “crime”, Morrison accompanied Seetaram to the location where the excavator was operating and photos were taken.
During the April sitting of the RDC Statutory Meeting, Seetaram reported the misuse of the excavator and offered to produce the photos he had taken. The REO confirmed that he, too, was there, giving credibility to Seetaram’s complaint.
In response, Regional Chairman Vickchand Ramphal requested that an investigation be held into this allegation before any pronouncement on the matter be made. The APNU+AFC Councillors did not approve of the Chairman’s request, as they believe the photos and the REO’s affirmation of being there should have been enough evidence not to warrant an investigation of any kind.
When the Chairman insisted on an investigation, the REO thought his integrity was being questioned, and threatened to walk out if the Chairman did not offer an apology to him. He subsequently left the meeting, followed by the APNU+AFC Councillors.
The Regional Democratic Council must be guided by parliamentary practices. And whenever allegations are brought before the Council, an investigation must be conducted before any action is taken. If indeed the excavator was being misused, Abel Seetaram was obligated to bring this to the attention of the Council.
But he mischievously and deliberately violated protocol when he reported the incident to the REO, instead of informing the Regional Chairman as Councillors are obligated to do. Had he done the right thing, this entire fiasco would have been avoided.
Residents of Region 5 are faced with serious issues, and the attention of the RDC is required. Most of the farm-to-market roads and streets within the ten Neighbourhood Democratic Councils are in deplorable state; Health Centres are in need of repair, medical equipment and supplies; our schools are in deplorable state and in need of urgent attention; yet, every little thing seems to escalate into a constitutional crisis that demands an apology, with total disregard for the need to deliberate the people’s business and to come up with real solutions that would bring much needed relief to the people of Region 5.
I must remind REO Ovid Morrison that if he had taken the time and had objectively investigated allegations of drug abuse by Carol Joseph, he would not have given instructions to have Staff Nurse/Midwife Sheriyn Marks transferred from the Fort Wellington Hospital with immediate effect. And he would have discovered that those who pushed him to make that decision are the ones guilty of perpetrating and covering up a crime to protect an unscrupulous drug addict. But, then again, he may have already known that.
The Regional Chairman owes the REO no apology. I will encourage him to apologise when the Attorney General, the Hon Basil Williams, apologises to High Court Judge Justice Franklin Holder, and when Morrison is remorseful enough to transfer Staff Nurse/Midwife Sheriyn Marks back to Fort Wellington Hospital where she belongs, and issues a public apology for the pain and suffering he has caused this model civil servant of whom we should all be proud.

Harry Gill
PPP/C Member
of Parliament