THE Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) in an effort to recover outstanding rent for several of its buildings, will be seeking the assistance of the Attorney General Chambers.

There are 300 buildings controlled by the regional administration of which 132 are being occupied by various persons including individuals from the Demerara Distillers Limited (DLL) and TOPCO.

With respect to the 132 buildings, officers are only paying rent for twenty-six. However from the records presented for audit examination in 2016, it could not be determined whether those persons who were not paying rent were entitled to rent-free quarters.
“Only officers who come here from other regions to work, pay rent for their living quarters and the rent is 10 per cent of their salary,” said Regional Executive Officer (REO) Pauline Lucas during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting on Monday.

The officers, who usually occupy the regional living quarters, include engineers, education officers and so forth. According Lucas, the regional administration was unsure about the occupants who owe rent, so the matter gained the attention of the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA) which is working with the relevant authorities to properly identify the occupants of those buildings.

Chairman of the PAC, Irfaan Ali and Auditor General advised the regional administration to also seek the assistance of the AG.

The REO was also advised to gather the transport and documents for the buildings so that the process could be easier.