–to sanitise operations of the Regional Administration

By Svetlana Marshall
THE Region Two Regional Executive Officer (REO), Mr Rupert Hopkinson, is calling on the Government to launch a forensic audit into the operations of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) with intent to weed out all acts of corruption, fraud, and theft of state resources.Hopkinson issued the call as the Opposition-dominated Council prepares to move a no-confidence motion against him on June 14. Hopkinson has been accused by some members of the Council of corruption, incompetence, and a lax attitude in carrying out the instructions of the Council. He has denied these allegations.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, the embattled REO said he is being attacked because of his efforts to “sanitise” the operations of the Regional Administration.

Though he failed to produce supporting evidence, Hopkinson strongly believes that millions of dollars are being leaked through corruption. He contends that “in Region Two, there is a compulsion to steal”.

According to him, since his appointment as the ‘Chief Financial Officer’ of the region, he has had cause to withhold approximately $100M in payment vouchers on suspicion of fraud.
“Those vouchers were not piled up, those vouchers were kept for scrutiny and investigation,” he said.

Responding to reports that he has been executing his duties at a snail’s pace, particularly when issuing payment vouchers, Hopkinson said the process by which he issues payment vouchers usually takes approximately one or two months, and there is no law stipulating the time within which this process must be completed.

NO SAW MILL
In a quest to support his argument, the REO said that in December 2015, he was presented with payment vouchers totalling $8M for the purchase of lumber, which included dressed wood.
An investigation was conducted, and it was discovered that the supplier of the lumber has no sawmill or lumber yard.

“When I went to the man, he had no dressed wood, he had no lumber yard, he had no sawmill; but yet this man is benefiting from $12M a year,” Hopkinson disclosed.

Upon conducting further investigations, Hopkinson said, it was revealed to him that the Regional Administration has been purchasing significant quantities of lumber when compared to previous years.

It was reported that, in 2010, the Regional Administration purchased $5M in lumber to execute remedial repairs throughout the district. The figure dropped to $3M in 2011; however, since 2012, the region has been purchasing some $20M in lumber for a Works Department that has been significantly reduced in size.

“All this boils down to fraudulent activities in Region Two,” Hopkinson contended, as he expressed his conviction that there is need for a forensic audit to be conducted into the operations of the Regional Administration.

‘PRINCIPALS’ INFORMED
However, when asked if these alleged acts of fraud were reported to the relevant authorities, Hopkinson initially said “no”, but told this newspaper that his “principals” have been informed.

Although suspecting fraud, the REO said, a reduced sum of $5M was paid to the questionable supplier (name given) for lumber.

“All vouchers, after scrutiny, will be released for payment; but the records, the evidence of suspected fraud, will be kept,” he explained.

Hopkinson himself has been accused of corruption by regional officials, including members of the Alliance For Change (AFC),
a senior official of which party has shown this newspaper a letter he has written 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) about the REO engaging in an alleged irregularity.

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

The REO has, however, said the items were checked by the region’s stock verifier and deemed unserviceable, thus he approved of their disposal. He noted: “To the best of my knowledge, all items approved by me, such as old tyres, did not require further approvals.”

The AFC member, however, not satisfied with this explanation given by Hopkinson, 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.”

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP)-dominated Council is expected to move a no-confidence motion against Hopkinson on June 14. But even with a majority, the Council will need the backing of the Government, in particular Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan, to successfully remove Hopkinson from office.