By Tajeram Mohabir

THE opposition-dominated Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Two on June 14 intends to move a no-confidence motion against Regional Executive Officer (REO) Rupert Hopkinson for alleged poor implementation of work, and not listening to the council.

One councillor of the Alliance For Change (AFC), who asked not to be named, along with several senior functionaries of that party in the region, told this publication that they are in full support of the motion which is likely to be moved by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

However, another AFC councillor, Hardat Narine said he “will not be going against the house” as he has “not found the REO to be corrupt” and the “PPP had done more wrong than the REO” when in power.

But he acknowledged that Mr Hopkinson is slow in his work. Another of Narine’s colleagues, who also requested not to be named, supported him on this point, saying that the REO is in the habit of allowing vouchers to pile up on his desk.

According to him, it is a challenge to meet the REO, and when “you do meet him, you really can’t see him, because the vouchers are so high on his desk.” Mr Hopkinson has not denied the piling up of vouchers on his desk, but said it was never that high as the AFC member is claiming, pointing out that “some wicked people” want to see him removed from office.

The allegations against the REO, who has been roundly criticised by both PPP and the coalition councillors for his performance, are many.
Among others, he is accused of slow implementation of projects, converting the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) annex for his personal library, hiring crony contractors from outside the region, slow payment of contractors who clean drains, faulty disposal of State assets, not attending RDC meetings, and contributing to the economic decline in the region due to slow project implementation .

NOT MY FAULT

Mr Hopkinson did not disagree with the charge of slow implementation of projects by his office, but said the fault is not his, but the region’s engineer who is slow in his work.

He also claimed that the region’s engineer has not been reporting faults at kokers and pumps to him in a timely manner, and as such, he cannot respond to these challenges in a timely manner.

But Regional Vice Chair Juliet Coonjah, has dismissed this claim by Mr Hopkinson as false, contending the opposite is true. She told the Guyana Chronicle that more than often, requisitions are made to the REO, and “he goes about looking at them at his own leisurely pace.”

Hopkinson for his part has defended his pace of “checking”, contending that bills and requisitions before him need due scrutiny to prevent “thieving” from continuing. He told this publication that he has managed to detect a few fraud cases, but when asked how many persons have been taken to the police, his answer was “none.” He said the police are generally uninterested in these cases.

Hopkinson also confirmed that a portion of books from his Georgetown Reading and Research Centre has been placed at the region’s CPCE annex.
The books valued some $15M, he said, is a personal donation to the region and teachers and members of the public can use the library for free.

While not against the good gesture, several AFC members have criticised the REO for not consulting the RDC, and for using the region’s resources and personnel to move the books from Georgetown.
But the REO maintained that the “books are for the region,” and that he “acted in the interest of the region.”

He also clarified that the procurement law does not bar the regional tender board chairman, which happens to be the REO, from the procuring the services of contractors from outside of the region.

“As far as I know, I don’t know the political affiliation of the contractors outside of this region (Region Two). What I know is that projects were tendered, bids were evaluated and projects were awarded,” he said.

Mr Hopkinson also noted that he had tried his best to process all vouchers for trench cleaners before him, and to the best of his knowledge, all have been processed.

However, prior to the interview with Mr Hopkinson, about a dozen trench cleaners were at the Regional Chairman’s office, appealing for his intervention for them to be paid.

They told the Guyana Chronicle that they have not been paid for weeks and have their families to maintain.
Mr Hopkinson also denied any involvement in corruption and challenged the PPP and the AFC to identify a single corrupt act that happened under him.

Taking him on, a senior AFC functionary showed this publication a letter written to the REO and copied to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Communities, the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Communities, the Regional Chairman, the Regional Vice Chair and the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU).

SALE OF ‘UNSERVICEABLE’ ITEMS

The letter accuses that REO of selling serviceable items which are tagged as unserviceable. The items reportedly include machines and mechanical parts and the purchasers were reportedly sent by the REO.

According to the REO, the items were checked by the region’s stock verifier and he approved of them. He noted that “to the best of my knowledge, all items approved by me, such as old tyres, did not require further approvals.”

But the AFC member, who was not satisfied by the explanation, said, “We do not want to be sidetracked by the sale of a few old tyres which is not a problem. The real problem here is the sale of valuable assets to chosen individuals more than once. These assets are undervalued to make it possible for them to be sold for less than $5000 as happened last month (the letter was written in May). A stock verifier is not qualified to decide whether machines and mechanical parts are serviceable or not. The region’s mechanics and mechanical engineers should make that decision.”

This aside, Hopkinson said he has attended some meetings, but has not been able to attend all due to pressing commitments. In his absence, he said, he was represented by the Assistant Regional Executive Officer.

But the PPP and some AFC members are contending that the Assistant Regional Executive Officer has been unable to respond to their queries, an allegation the REO denies.

Regional Chairman Devanand Ramdatt in an invited comment told the Guyana Chronicle that the PPP will be going ahead with the motion as the “REO has successfully failed” in properly executing the functions of his office.

It is not clear if the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) councillors will support the motion, but from all indications, they will not.
The Region Two RDC has 17 councillors, of which 12 are from the PPP and five are from the APNU+AFC coalition. Two of those councillors are from the AFC.