— regional councillors say lone engineer transferred without consultation

REGION 10 Regional Democratic Councillors on Thursday moved a motion calling for an urgent meeting with Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan and another to stop his Permanent Secretary Emil McGarrell from transferring the RDC’s lone engineer to Region One.

They also called for the immediate return of the four staff members who were sent on administrative leave in January 2016.

The motions were moved by Councillor Charles Sampson and Councillor Denise Belgrave and were unanimously accepted by every other councillor. Regional Chairman Renis Morian, reading a letter penned by McGarrell to the engineer, and copied to the REOs of Regions One and 10, Leslie Wilburg and Gavin Clarke respectively, revealed that the engineer would be transferred and that all arrangements are in place for a smooth transition.

This letter seemingly angered the Council since almost all of the councillors including Morian say no consultation was done with the Council before making such a decision.

Morian said it is the Council that oversees the works and development in the region, and as such, a decision should not have been made without its input.

“The PS took on the role of the Chairman and councillor and took on the role of the minister to write the staff member to move him without any input from the Council… this man eyes pass this region and this must be the limit of the works of PS McGarrell on Region 10, this is disrespect, I have no confidence in PS McGarrell’s interest in the development of Region 10,” Morian said amid cheers from the councillors.

This sentiment was echoed by Councillor Charles Sampson who also described McGarrell’s missive as disrespectful.

“In the middle of trying to get our work programme running, they want to transfer the main engineer in the region… without even consulting with the person, without even consulting with the regional administration and showing total disrespect to the Council to sabotage the work programme of the RDC,” Sampson said.

The councillors are also upset that the four staff who were sent on administrative leave to facilitate investigations into alleged misappropriation of funds since January 2016, continue to be off the job, while the administration suffers from understaffing.

UNDER PRESSURE
Since the workers were not fired, the region cannot recruit replacements. The councillors revealed that the REO is under severe pressure, since he has to administer the region and perform duties as an engineer.

REO Clarke said in a verbal discussion with McGarrell, he made it definitively clear that as a result of the limited staff, the engineer cannot be transferred.

“You cannot remove the engineer from Region 10. I list all the reasons and that was a verbal discussion. It wasn’t anything in writing, it was just him saying to me that the engineers are expected to be rotated and I was telling him what is my position on that,” the REO related.

He also gave an update on the fraud investigation.

“The case was placed before a Disciplinary Committee appointed by PSC (Public Service Commission) and that was three weeks ago and they would have had a hearing for those individuals and that committee was to make a recommendation to the PSC for their action, so there is where we at. I haven’t gotten a report from them as to what recommendations [were] made to the PSC, so here we are stuck.”

Councillor Sampson who moved the motion, said that he supports the immediate return of the employees to work, since it is a grave injustice to have anyone suspended for so long.
Efforts to contact McGarrell for a comment proved futile.

The Council is also calling for an urgent meeting with Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan to hold serious discussions with the Regional Democratic Council, the Mayor and Town Council and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils in Region 10, in an effort to bring solutions to burning issues.

ROTATION
In an invited comment on Thursday, McGarrell said the Ministry of Communities would from time to time rotate various staff members, including REOs and DREOs for efficiency and for strengthening their experiences.

The decision to rotate the engineer, he said, was taken at the level of the ministry.

“The Council may not have understood the thinking behind it and of course the Council is in its right to express its displeasure as any other Council would do,” McGarrell said.

When it was put to him that the engineer is the lone one in the region, the permanent secretary responded: “What you need to do is to get the REO to pronounce on that specifically right, what is his component of his engineers in the region and you would find that that is not exactly the case.”

He said he appreciates the Council speaking out on what they do not agree with as that is what the ministry is advocating: for Councils to voice its concerns as a means of exercising true democracy.

He also urged the RDC to look into other developmental works such as making a decision on the regional flags and emblems and holding consultations with residents, as well as the execution of its work programme.