Residents call for 52/74 NDC Chairman’s resignation

Residents of Number Naught Village on the Corentyne, Berbice are calling for the resignation of the Chairman and Overseer of the 52/74 Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).
There are reports that the acting Regional Chairman Dennis DeRoop had to quell an intended protest by residents after they unearthed what they claimed was corruption by two NDC officials.
Following the allegations, the acting Regional Chairman met with the NDC, but only a few councillors and the Vice Chairman attended. The NDC Chairman was absent.
There are also reports which suggest that the NDC had taken a decision to construct a culvert and had gotten estimates from prequalified contractors.

However, the son of the NDC Works Committee Chairman was given the contract, and he reportedly used Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP) workers, who were assigned to clean drains in the community and who are being paid through the Government, to carry out the private contract during regular working hours.
One of the NDC Councillors Ahmad Rajab told <<<Guyana Times>>> that the contractor was using old zinc sheets to form a revetment and a section of the street caved in forcing him to yield to the residents and stop the project.
He said when he arrived he was shocked to see what was taking place. “There was no contractor and the workers claimed that the Works Committee Chairman’s son is the contractor. He is not a licensed contractor, and they were using CIIP workers to do the job. They broke the dam in half and the residents are suffering. They have all the stuff in the middle of the road and it is affecting traffic and pedestrians. I say it is incompetence on the part on the NDC because both the NDC Chairman and the Works Committee Chairman were standing right there when the work was going on.”
The acting Regional Chairman told this publication that the NDC may have underestimated the project and attempted to undertake it themselves.
Prime Ministerial Regional Representative Gobin Harbhajan, who resides in the NDC area, said residents went to his home and demanded that he visit the site where someone might have been trying to pocket taxpayers’ dollars.
He said he was amazed to learn that the NDC Chairman allowed something like that. “It is not a regular culvert.”
Meanwhile, DeRoop said the project has been stopped, the regional engineer has been asked to produce an estimate for the project and the contract would be put out to tender.
DeRoop said the regional administration took note that the CIIP workers who were

on the project do not have the capacity to undertake the construction of a culvert.
“Residents have gone so far as to make allegations against the Overseer and the NDC Chairman. I think that the people are very upset because it is the village next to the NDC office. This is one of the NDCs that is lacking in performance. There are many times that I have to make interventions within the 52/74 NDC. I think the Chairman is very weak and the Overseer is doing his own thing sometimes.”
DeRoop said even though the NDC is equipped to the extent that it has its own Superintendent of Works, the regional administration is forced to visit to resolve minor issues. DeRoop is of the opinion that the 52/74 NDC has not been fulfilling its obligation to residents. (Andrew Carmichael)