MP Figueira scolds REO Dwight John

OPPOSITION Member of Parliament (MP) Jermaine Figueira rebuked Regional Executive
Officer (REO) Dwight John demanding he “get his house in order” following what he said was
an attempted sabotage of his press conference.
“This is not a usual reoccurrence, but it seems to me that some (mischievous) thing is afoot. Here
we are as elected officials in the office of the RDC (Regional Democratic Council) Chairman
Deron Adams informing the residents of Region Ten (Upper Demerara – Berbice) of positions
that we are in agreement with and all of a sudden, during the chairman’s presentation the internet
is cut off…… there seems to be an effort to not let our voices be heard,” MP Figueira argued in a
video presentation which circulated on Facebook.
The sophomore legislator was perturbed by the efforts of saboteurs to try stifle the voices of
more than 39,000 residents of the bauxite-mining Region whose voices and perspectives are not
included in the preparation of the 2021 fiscal estimates for the 17,000 Km 2 area through their
lawfully elected officials.
Upper Demerara-Berbice is a strategic Administrative Region in Guyana sharing borders with
Essequibo Islands-West Demerara (Region Three); Demerara-Mahaica (Region Four) and
Mahaica-Berbice (Region Five) to the north.
Region Ten is also contiguous to East Berbice-Corentyne (Region Six) to the east and the
regions of Cuyuni-Mazaruni (Region Seven) and Potaro-Siparuni (Region Eight) to the west.
“Myself and Mr. Devine Sears, who are the geographical MPs have to represent a budget on
behalf of Region Ten and vote for it in the National Assembly. The wishes of the people are not
reflected (in the current preparation). This is something that we cannot accept, this is a farce,”
the lawmaker emphasised in his reprimand of REO John.

He said leaders cannot “preach democracy…but adopt a dictatorial approach.” He warned the
Regional administration, especially REO John that Region Ten will not accept this travesty.
“Mr. Dwight John as a worker of this Region you have to honour the wishes of the people of this
Region. You cannot have your figureheads planning a budget in isolation of the elected officials.
We will not accept it. You need to get your house in order comrade,” MP Figueira in the
Facebook post declared.
In his remonstration, Figueira reminded John: “You are a worker on behalf of the people of
Region Ten, don’t be a political stooge. As a public servant you have to understand your role and
your role in the Regional Administration is to carry out the policy decisions of the elected
officials of Region Ten who won this region resoundingly with over 80 percent voting for the
coalition (A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change [APNU+AFC]). Stop being a
politician, you are a worker in this region and do your work as a professional, don’t get involved
in the petty politics.”
“The people of this region demand that certain things are satisfied, that is why they articulated
those concerns, those wishes to their elected officials. We are demanding that the concerns and
wishes of residents be captured in the budget. Imagine they are planning a budget for 2021 and
the Regional Chairman and his Councilors are unaware of the spending even though numerous
requests were made to the REO demanding an account of the monies that were allocated to
Region Ten in 2020 and to date he (the Regional Chairman) has not been updated with how
much spending has been done. This was a budget that was passed in September and contracts
started to be issued late October, this is unacceptable,” the politician said in background
information contextualising his demands.
He said taxpayers have a right to know how their monies are expended.
“This is not my money. It is the monies of the workers of all of Guyana that were allocated
and as the REO, who is the Accounting Officer, he has to be accountable, he has to be a
transparent servant of the people and let us know how our monies were being spent in this
region,” MP Figueira added.