By Clifford Stanley

REGION Five Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ovid Morrison has refuted allegations that the public works programme of the region is being stalled due to the impasse between the Regional Chairman of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)-dominated Council and the APNU+AFC councillors.He was responding to a media report attributed to the Region 5 Chamber of Commerce headlined “Region 5 in slumber over stalemate at RDC.”

“Region five is definitely not in slumber. The reports are patently false. Our work programme for 2016 is going ahead as planned and at full steam. The weather has been a bit of a problem in the case of road works but are we hampered by that situation at the RDC?” he asked, and answered “definitely not.”

He explained that “our not being impeded has to do with the way the system works. The RDC makes policies and the Secretariat implements those policies. The policies for 2016 were concretised in the 2016 budget which has been passed. We at the Secretariat are implementing those policies with funds allocated by Central Government. We don’t need any input from the RDC. We already have the funds.”

He stressed: “People making the statement that the region is sleeping, because of what is happening at the RDC level are operating under a totally false impression.”
Meanwhile, Regional Engineer Dhanpaul Sukha confirmed that the region had awarded approximately 85 per cent of the contracts for public works.

He said that there had been delays in the works programme, especially in the road construction projects because of the inclement weather pattern and in some cases shortages of materials.

He added that now that the weather had improved, the works have picked up and the region was moving forward steadfastly with the execution of its budgeted programme.

“We will within the third and fourth quarter of this year, catch up in completing all of our programmed work as well as whatever projects we would have proposed for our savings,” Sukha said.

In its 2016 budget, Central Government allocated $2.66B to Region Five to carry out major developmental and maintenance works. Of this sum, $390M was allocated for capital works while $2.72B is being expended on the maintenance of buildings and infrastructure.

Most of the capital allocation is being utilised for public works such as roads and bridges and land and infrastructural development. The sum being spent on such projects amounts to $120M, of which some $75M is being spent on road upgrades and other land development works and $25M on bridges.