THE Regional Democratic Council of Region Eight (Potaro- Siparuni) which is under new management is being accused of `massive corruption’, even as a probe into an alleged $40M School Feeding Programme fraud is ongoing.

On Thursday, a group from Mahdia took to the road outside the administrative building, carrying placards which expressed several of the issues they are disturbed about, including a 2016 Audit Report which in addition to unearthing the school feeding lapses, highlighted other discrepancies relating to the overpayment of salaries, deductions and several contracts.

The protesters are also contending that there is a bias in the selection of the Interim Management Community (IMC) which was established to manage the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), a necessity for Mahdia to receive its township status.
To this end, they are calling for the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), as well as, the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) to further investigate the operations of the administration. It was as a result of the disclosures in the 2016 Audit Report, which led to the dismissal of Regional Executive Officer (REO), Rafel Downes. Downes was dismissed in May 2017.

Now, fingers are being pointed by the aggrieved group at the acting REO, Mr. Gavin Gounga, who they claim has employed an assistant accountant who it is alleged is currently under investigation. One of the protesters, Abijah Trotman, in an appeal to the high authorities for action, remarked “Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, we are with you 100 per cent. We are strong supporters of the Coalition, but… the RDC, Region Eight is stressing us out.”

Meanwhile, Gounga, who has been acting in the position since May 22, 2017, told the Guyana Chronicle that much of what the protesters are complaining about are public findings and nothing new. “It’s no secret. What they are saying are the findings of the Auditor General when the auditors came here to do the 2016 Audit. So the matter is still in the investigative stage, it has not [reached] a conclusion as yet.”

He also stated that it would have to be a call from his superiors, (the Permanent Secretary and the Financial Secretary) to effect any dismissal of the assistant accountant, since it is not within his jurisdiction to do so. Nonetheless, ‘secret sufferers’, are what the protesters say they are being treated as.