– Ramjattan says it is outrageous, govt up to trickery
By Gabriella Chapman
The Regional Democratic Council of Region Eight (Potaro Siparuni) was expected to see a new Regional Chairman and Vice Chairman Friday morning through an election process with the regional councillors, who were also expected to be sworn in at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC).
However, without giving reason, the election and swearing in were cancelled, even though all the councillors have already travelled to Georgetown for the activity. The seven APNU+AFC councillors, and the lone LJP councillor, expressed their discontent with the cancellation, to the media.
Norma Sebastian said she travelled to Georgetown a few days ago with the team, after being told that she was selected from the main opposition’s list to be a councillor on the RDC, and that she needed to be present at ACCC at 09:00 Friday morning for the swearing in ceremony.
Sebastian said at 19:15hrs Thursday evening, she received a phone call from the Region’s REO, Mitzy Campbell, stating that the election has been cancelled and they all should head back home.
She said it has been months since the work of the RDC has been at a standstill, and she had expected it to be over today.
“We thought that after having to travel all this way, leaving what we were doing, travelled to Georgetown for such an important exercise, that it should have been done, and get us back in the region to commence work in the region which has been at a stand still for a number of months now,” she said.
Sebastian also said that the REO mentioned the reason for the cancellation is due to two important persons not being able to make it, but did the identity who those two persons are.
Another councillor from Paramakatoi village, Noel Thomas told the media that he too received a letter of invitation to the swearing in, and a notification that the Chairman and Vice will also be elected.
He said when he heard of the cancellation he was extremely disappointed.
“We have work to do and we are way behind time in our region because all the regions already have their RDCs and we are being kept back. I don’t know where we’re heading. The old RDC is still running up to today,” Thomas said.
He said he wasn’t giving any reason, nor a new date for the activity.
Meanwhile, the lone LJP representative, Jimmy James said he was never notified of the cancellation, and showed up at the ACCC only to find out same.
“It’s a waste of our time, and we are here representing the people. We want to get this thing over so that we can go back and start business,” he said.
James also mentioned that he is confused why they were even called for this activity to be held in Region Four, when they are from Region Eight.
Also present at the ACCC was former Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan.
According to him, the APNU+AFC councillors were told the activity had cancelled and they should go to the airstrip. Meanwhile, the PPP/C councillors are still at Sleep Inn Hotel.
Ramjattan said based on his intelligence, the PPP was attempting to perform a trickery, sending home the opposition councillors and would have later called for the election so that the Regional Chairman’s vote would be in their favour.
“I understand the strategy was, whenever two or three of them gone on a plane, then they would have called a meeting and then do their trickery. All the PPP councillors are at Sleep Inn Hotel,” he said.
The former Minister urged the councillors present at the ACCC to band together and stand their ground, and desist from following in the footsteps of Charrandass Persaud.
