Gov’t scoffs at no-confidence motion against Region 8 REO

– says Regional Chairman misled council

Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud said Region Eight Chairman Mark Crawford has misled the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) into passing a no-confidence motion against the Regional Executive Officer Ronald Harsaywack.
The no-confidence motion was passed by eight of 15 councillors on Tuesday, July 10 during the RDC’s statutory meeting after being moved by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) councillor Oswald Junior and seconded by an Alliance For Change (AFC) representative.
The councillors had cited 11 reasons for supporting the no-confidence motion, including the REO presenting false information on the alleged vandalism of pipelines within the Mahdia sub-district top.
Other reasons included Harsaywack presenting false prices to the RDC for the usage of a bulldozer and omitting the regional chairman while making decisions affecting the region among others.

Those in support of the motion had described the REO’s conduct as displeasing and unacceptable. But the minister on Monday accused Crawford of misleading the council into believing the allegations peddled against the REO. At the time he was speaking from his office at the Local Government Ministry at Fort Street, Kingston.
Minister Persaud said despite a number of consultations with the Region Eight chairman on the procurement procedure for contracts and the function and guidelines under which the administration operates, Crawford still operates as though he lacks this requisite information, causing confusion within the RDC and more so misleading his councillors.
“The first one is in relation to the contracts for the road; we would have seen very clearly that the advertisement for works to be done on the road placed in the national newspapers and then the normal procurement procedure and the contract was awarded,” Persaud said.
The local government minister said despite the fact that all protocols were observed in the awarding of contracts, the regional chairman made it appear as though Harsaywack had breached council policies.
With regards to the REO being accused of presenting false information about the alleged vandalism of pipelines, Persaud said: “Here again the regional chairman led the council to believe that the REO misrepresented the situation.”
Minister Persaud said what was worst was the regional chairman’s move to persuade the council into believing that it has the powers to appoint a new REO, “that was the most significant misrepresentation and misleading act on behalf of the regional chairman”.
The minister made it clear that the RDC has no jurisdiction over appointed officials. He said if there are concerns and dissatisfaction, these should be expressed with supporting evidence.
“While the RDC of itself can express dissatisfaction about the performance of any employee, they need to support that dissatisfaction with evidence-based documentations, so that the administration in itself and the Local Government Ministry can seek to intervene, investigate, and make a determination.”
Up to press time, the ministry was not in receipt of a report from the regional chairman on the no-confidence motion nor has he submitted any evidence pertaining to the allegations made against Harsaywack, Persaud said.