THE Regional Executive Officers (REOs) and the Deputy Regional Executive Officers (DREOs) employed  by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development are all qualified and competent people with capabilities to properly manage their administration.

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Mr. Ganga Persaud gave this assurance in refuting allegations in a recent letter in the Kaieteur News, wherein the letter-writer had accused the ministry of hiring substandard PPP/C members to fill positions of REOs and DREOs in many regions.
Persaud said that the person, who had written the letter making such an allegation, should be willing to put his/her qualifications up and identify the REOs and DREOs who are incompetent and incapable of doing their job. Moreover, he said that as minister, he would be more than willing to have the qualifications and competence of the officials publicised.
He also noted that the person who would have made such allegations seems to have a measuring scale for human beings and their qualifications, and so he is advising the writer to step on the scale first before accusing anyone of being of substandard competence.
He admitted that while the REOs and DREOs are all human beings and therefore may have their imperfections, the Ministry of Local Government ensures that only qualified and very competent people are employed within the local government system.