NEWLY appointed Ombudsman, Justice Winston Moore has said he has no qualms or misgivings about staff or resources for his office.
In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, he acknowledged that the office, which has not been functional for the last eight years, is in the early days of becoming operational.Currently, there are four employees at the office and he has expressed his desire for additional human resources to the Ministry of Public Service.

However, Mr. Moore made it clear that support from the Government has been forthcoming.
“Today (Monday) we had someone come in to look at refurbishing the office and the Office of the President has committed support to have their IT (information technology) person come across to assist us in getting set up,” the Ombudsman said.
He added that moves are also being made to ensure that provision in the 2014 National Budget would facilitate its increased functioning.
The Ombudsman conceded that criticisms have been made since his appointment on January 15 but reiterated that it is early days and he will be fully operational in due course.
Shadow Attorney General of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Mr. Basil Williams had remarked on the shortcomings in “human and technical resources” at the office to allow it to effectively administer its functions.
The Ombudsman pointed out that, even as the office has only recently become operational, complaints have been made in the last two weeks.
Taking complaints
“We are taking complaints…yes we do not have the investigative capacity presently, but where there is a need for investigations, we will be employing the services of external sources,” he offered.
Mr. Moore’s commitment to use external sources for the investigative needs is in line with the call by APNU’s Williams for the use of a pool of independent investigators.
An Ombudsman is, usually, appointed by the Government or Parliament, but with a significant degree of independence.
The person holding that office is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of maladministration or violation of rights.
The Ombudsman, sometimes, also aims to identify systemic issues leading to poor services or breaches of people’s rights. At the national level, most such office holders have a wide mandate to deal with the entire Public Sector and, at times, also elements of the Private Sector.
An Ombudsman has the power to sanction if a citizen believes he or she has been treated unjustly by a high profile member of society, even a minister.
Guyana has not had an Ombudsman since Justice Sheik Mohamed retired in 2005.

(By Vanessa Narine)