Guyana Focus
$Million$ school feeding fraud
in Region Eight
Georgetown – The national school feeding programme was officially re-started by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration in 2010.
Hundreds of millions of dollars were being plugged into the programme which targeted all the Regions with locally-produced biscuits and juices. Regions Seven, Eight and Nine were treated separately.
Last year, $1.3B was allocated; a further $1.9B set aside this year for the national programme. However, despite the good intentions, the programme appeared to have been abused by the coordinators.
In Region Eight, a vast area that has schools scattered in many of the outlying areas, discrepancies were found with two schools – the Kato Primary and Paramakatoi.
Officials last week confirmed that state auditors have been investigating spending of Region Eight, with the spotlight on the program. From last year to early this year, auditors reportedly found a number of worrying things.
For example, a senior Region Eight official reportedly purchased items from her Parika, East Bank Essequibo shop. Not only were some of the items purchased not delivered, but high prices were paid for them.
Auditors would have been looking at the cost for every meal which reportedly scandalously ran into thousands of dollars.
There were also questions about whether the correct procurement procedures were followed in awarding the contracts.
In some cases, millions of dollars were being paid to the boyfriend of a senior official after he moved there to take up a contract.
Monies reportedly set aside for feeding students of the new Kato Secondary, in the tens of millions of dollars, were diverted and used up in other areas, it was explained.
According to Kaieteur News a key report of state auditors was recently handed over to the administration and it was scathing in its comments of the management in Region Eight of the programme. It was unclear whether auditors have recommended further investigations by police and even criminal charges.
In recent times, the Auditor General has been pointing more and more to widespread breaches in accounting and procurement breaches which could not easily be explained away.
In fact, earlier this year, former Region Eight Regional Executive Officer (REO), Rafel Downes, was sent packing after a number of worrying things were found under his watch.
His evasiveness in answering questions after he appeared earlier this year before the Public Accounts Committee, a Parliamentary oversight committee that examines spending of tax dollars, angered the members. Several of the issues surrounded the overpayment of salaries and deductions. There was also overpayment to several contractors.
The Auditor General was ordered by the PAC earlier this year to launch a special audit and investigation into Region Eight.
When asked why five of the defaulting contractors who owe the Region millions of dollars were once again awarded contracts in 2016, the former REO could not answer.
A Region Eight official, Daniel Fraser, had accused Downes of hijacking the procurement system in the Region. This year, almost $1.6B had been budgeted for the region.
In one case, although Mahdia, the capital of Region Eight, has several mechanic shops, someone was hired to do work on heavy duty equipment. One bulldozer was left unrepaired because of a dispute over monies.
"There are many more cases like this. The contracts and projects are being handled in a clandestine manner. We see cases of contractors, some who are relatives of the officials, being handpicked. And we are talking about projects around here. We are not even sure about projects that are happening over the hill," Fraser had complained. There were several cited cases of procurement and contract irregularities.
The administration has vowed a zero tolerance stance against non-performance and corruption against public servants.
Under the school feeding programme, administrators were supposed to procure the services of persons and farmers within the Region. It was the preference that local dishes were to be distributed to the students.
The programme is viewed as a key one for the Coalition Government. In fact, in June, it was announced that a more sustainable school feeding programme was being pursued.
Development partner agency, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has engaged Government officials with the ultimate goal of finding solutions, including using fresh products.
Based on a presentation by FAO’s country representative, Rueben Robertson, school feeding should be a multi-sectoral policy programme, which will allow Guyana to achieve goals in various strategic areas such as education, public health, agriculture, social protection, social cohesion and business.
Representatives from the Ministry of Education, in June, outlined that there are at least five activities executed by the Ministry under the school feeding programme.
The programme currently provides one healthy meal for at least 22,000 students in 158 schools across Guyana.
The activities include the Breakfast programme, the juice and biscuit for students along the coastland areas, the Dora feeding programme on the Linden, Soesdyke Highway, the peanut butter and cassava bread programme in Region Nine and the community based school feeding programme in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine.
Hundreds of millions of dollars were being plugged into the programme which targeted all the Regions with locally-produced biscuits and juices. Regions Seven, Eight and Nine were treated separately.
Last year, $1.3B was allocated; a further $1.9B set aside this year for the national programme. However, despite the good intentions, the programme appeared to have been abused by the coordinators.
In Region Eight, a vast area that has schools scattered in many of the outlying areas, discrepancies were found with two schools – the Kato Primary and Paramakatoi.
Officials last week confirmed that state auditors have been investigating spending of Region Eight, with the spotlight on the program. From last year to early this year, auditors reportedly found a number of worrying things.
For example, a senior Region Eight official reportedly purchased items from her Parika, East Bank Essequibo shop. Not only were some of the items purchased not delivered, but high prices were paid for them.
Auditors would have been looking at the cost for every meal which reportedly scandalously ran into thousands of dollars.
There were also questions about whether the correct procurement procedures were followed in awarding the contracts.
In some cases, millions of dollars were being paid to the boyfriend of a senior official after he moved there to take up a contract.
Monies reportedly set aside for feeding students of the new Kato Secondary, in the tens of millions of dollars, were diverted and used up in other areas, it was explained.
According to Kaieteur News a key report of state auditors was recently handed over to the administration and it was scathing in its comments of the management in Region Eight of the programme. It was unclear whether auditors have recommended further investigations by police and even criminal charges.
In recent times, the Auditor General has been pointing more and more to widespread breaches in accounting and procurement breaches which could not easily be explained away.
In fact, earlier this year, former Region Eight Regional Executive Officer (REO), Rafel Downes, was sent packing after a number of worrying things were found under his watch.
His evasiveness in answering questions after he appeared earlier this year before the Public Accounts Committee, a Parliamentary oversight committee that examines spending of tax dollars, angered the members. Several of the issues surrounded the overpayment of salaries and deductions. There was also overpayment to several contractors.
The Auditor General was ordered by the PAC earlier this year to launch a special audit and investigation into Region Eight.
When asked why five of the defaulting contractors who owe the Region millions of dollars were once again awarded contracts in 2016, the former REO could not answer.
A Region Eight official, Daniel Fraser, had accused Downes of hijacking the procurement system in the Region. This year, almost $1.6B had been budgeted for the region.
In one case, although Mahdia, the capital of Region Eight, has several mechanic shops, someone was hired to do work on heavy duty equipment. One bulldozer was left unrepaired because of a dispute over monies.
"There are many more cases like this. The contracts and projects are being handled in a clandestine manner. We see cases of contractors, some who are relatives of the officials, being handpicked. And we are talking about projects around here. We are not even sure about projects that are happening over the hill," Fraser had complained. There were several cited cases of procurement and contract irregularities.
The administration has vowed a zero tolerance stance against non-performance and corruption against public servants.
Under the school feeding programme, administrators were supposed to procure the services of persons and farmers within the Region. It was the preference that local dishes were to be distributed to the students.
The programme is viewed as a key one for the Coalition Government. In fact, in June, it was announced that a more sustainable school feeding programme was being pursued.
Development partner agency, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has engaged Government officials with the ultimate goal of finding solutions, including using fresh products.
Based on a presentation by FAO’s country representative, Rueben Robertson, school feeding should be a multi-sectoral policy programme, which will allow Guyana to achieve goals in various strategic areas such as education, public health, agriculture, social protection, social cohesion and business.
Representatives from the Ministry of Education, in June, outlined that there are at least five activities executed by the Ministry under the school feeding programme.
The programme currently provides one healthy meal for at least 22,000 students in 158 schools across Guyana.
The activities include the Breakfast programme, the juice and biscuit for students along the coastland areas, the Dora feeding programme on the Linden, Soesdyke Highway, the peanut butter and cassava bread programme in Region Nine and the community based school feeding programme in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine.
Georgetown – Well-known businessman Yusuf Sankar, 77, died after he was trapped in his Main Street, Georgetown home, which was gutted by fire early Monday morning.
Riyadh Sankar confirmed that his father perished in the fire that ripped through the three-storey building at Lot 51 Main Street, which also housed two businesses on the first floor.
The ground floor housed Risan’s and Jarrod’s photocopy and photography centres, which were both destroyed.
Riyadh, who lives abroad, told the media that the fire started at around 5.30am but Fire Chief Marlon Gentle related that a call was made to the Guyana Fire Service at 6.01am.
Riyadh explained that he and other family members had gone to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), where they transported one of his brothers who was traveling overseas to visit their mother. When they returned home, they found the house on fire and there were no signs of the senior Sankar. The family was forced to stand and watch as the fire destroyed the building. “We were actually out and when we came back more than half of the house was ablaze. We tried to get the vehicles out,” Riyadh explained, while pointing out that at the time of the fire, his father and his caretaker, Claire Xavier, who has been working with the family for some 37 years, were home alone.
According to Riyadh, his father’s body was found near to the stairs that lead to the middle floor, where another stairway to exit the building is located. He said this indicated that his father was trying to escape the blaze.
While the origins of the fire are currently still unknown, investigators are working with the theory that it might have been electrical since minutes before the fire, there were reports of fluctuating electricity, which Xavier confirmed.
Sankar’s body was subsequently retrieved from the burnt remains of the house and was taken to a funeral home.
Riyadh Sankar confirmed that his father perished in the fire that ripped through the three-storey building at Lot 51 Main Street, which also housed two businesses on the first floor.
The ground floor housed Risan’s and Jarrod’s photocopy and photography centres, which were both destroyed.
Riyadh, who lives abroad, told the media that the fire started at around 5.30am but Fire Chief Marlon Gentle related that a call was made to the Guyana Fire Service at 6.01am.
Riyadh explained that he and other family members had gone to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), where they transported one of his brothers who was traveling overseas to visit their mother. When they returned home, they found the house on fire and there were no signs of the senior Sankar. The family was forced to stand and watch as the fire destroyed the building. “We were actually out and when we came back more than half of the house was ablaze. We tried to get the vehicles out,” Riyadh explained, while pointing out that at the time of the fire, his father and his caretaker, Claire Xavier, who has been working with the family for some 37 years, were home alone.
According to Riyadh, his father’s body was found near to the stairs that lead to the middle floor, where another stairway to exit the building is located. He said this indicated that his father was trying to escape the blaze.
While the origins of the fire are currently still unknown, investigators are working with the theory that it might have been electrical since minutes before the fire, there were reports of fluctuating electricity, which Xavier confirmed.
Sankar’s body was subsequently retrieved from the burnt remains of the house and was taken to a funeral home.
one dead, another hospitalized
Georgetown – A Corentyne family was plunged into mourning after the sole breadwinner was killed in a hit and run accident on Sunday evening. Dead is 19-year-old Trishan “Sonno” Sahai of Lot 11 ‘B’ No. 57 Village, Corentyne. His friend, Mooneshwar Jairam, 28, is said to be in a serious but stable condition at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital.
According to reports, the two friends were standing on the public road engaged in conversation when a car slammed into them. Sahai was thrown several feet away while Jairam was flung on top of a parked car.
Mother of the dead man, Bhanwattie Somwar, said that around 7:30 pm, they received word that ‘Sonno’ was hit in a road accident and was taken to the hospital.
According to the woman, her son left home at 5:00 pm to “hang with some friends”. She stated that she was told by neighbours that her son was in the corner “talking with a friend” when the car hit them and sped off.
The grieving woman said that she and other family members rushed to the Skeldon Hospital but she was not allowed to see her son. Minutes later, they were told that the young man succumbed to his injures. “When we reach hospital, we couldn’t see he so we keep asking what happened and they nah seh nothing then lil bit after, doctor seh he dead”.
Somwar described her son as a quiet person who worked to provide a better life for his family.
Meanwhile, relatives of the injured Mooneshwar Jairam reported that he is in a stable but serious condition. Although, he is unable to speak, he is said to be responsive.
According to reports, the two friends were standing on the public road engaged in conversation when a car slammed into them. Sahai was thrown several feet away while Jairam was flung on top of a parked car.
Mother of the dead man, Bhanwattie Somwar, said that around 7:30 pm, they received word that ‘Sonno’ was hit in a road accident and was taken to the hospital.
According to the woman, her son left home at 5:00 pm to “hang with some friends”. She stated that she was told by neighbours that her son was in the corner “talking with a friend” when the car hit them and sped off.
The grieving woman said that she and other family members rushed to the Skeldon Hospital but she was not allowed to see her son. Minutes later, they were told that the young man succumbed to his injures. “When we reach hospital, we couldn’t see he so we keep asking what happened and they nah seh nothing then lil bit after, doctor seh he dead”.
Somwar described her son as a quiet person who worked to provide a better life for his family.
Meanwhile, relatives of the injured Mooneshwar Jairam reported that he is in a stable but serious condition. Although, he is unable to speak, he is said to be responsive.
Georgetown – A Tain, Corentyne father of five and his five- month pregnant wife are now homeless after their two-story wooden home was gutted by fire last Wednesday at about 1:00 pm.
Mulchand Ragbeer, 31, called ‘Ravi’ of Lot 120 Block ‘4’ Tain Settlement, Corentyne said that on Wednesday at around noon, he left home for work after lunch, securing the house.
Later, he said he received a call from his neighbour who frantically asked him to return home as his ‘house was on fire’.
According to Ragbeer, his neighbour said that moments after he saw smoke emanating from the home, a man by the name of ‘Junie’ was seen walking down the stairs. Confirming that he knew the alleged arsonist, Ragabeer said that the man (Junie) and him were friends but had a disagreement. He noted that the man would usually visit the home even when he is not there.
The man further noted that on Tuesday, ‘Junie’ entered the yard and attempted to break into his home but he was reportedly unsuccessful. This, he posited could be why the man would try to torch his home.
“I hear seh he try to break in my house on Tuesday and I went and change my padlock and now look the house burn down.”
The owners of the home reside overseas. Ragbeer stated that the house had no electricity and was fully furnished with necessary household amenities. He estimated over GYD$300,000 in losses.
Meanwhile, police are currently hunting for the suspected arsonist who is on the run as investigations continue.
Mulchand Ragbeer, 31, called ‘Ravi’ of Lot 120 Block ‘4’ Tain Settlement, Corentyne said that on Wednesday at around noon, he left home for work after lunch, securing the house.
Later, he said he received a call from his neighbour who frantically asked him to return home as his ‘house was on fire’.
According to Ragbeer, his neighbour said that moments after he saw smoke emanating from the home, a man by the name of ‘Junie’ was seen walking down the stairs. Confirming that he knew the alleged arsonist, Ragabeer said that the man (Junie) and him were friends but had a disagreement. He noted that the man would usually visit the home even when he is not there.
The man further noted that on Tuesday, ‘Junie’ entered the yard and attempted to break into his home but he was reportedly unsuccessful. This, he posited could be why the man would try to torch his home.
“I hear seh he try to break in my house on Tuesday and I went and change my padlock and now look the house burn down.”
The owners of the home reside overseas. Ragbeer stated that the house had no electricity and was fully furnished with necessary household amenities. He estimated over GYD$300,000 in losses.
Meanwhile, police are currently hunting for the suspected arsonist who is on the run as investigations continue.
death of unidentified female
Georgetown – A Guyana Police Force Lance Corporal, who was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, on Monday remained under close arrest in connection with the death of a 20-year old woman. Investigators said the 39-year old cop, based at Force Headquarters, was driving his personal vehicle.
Police said he “was found above the legal alcohol limit following a fatal accident” Sunday night at about 9:50 on the Ogle Public Road, East Coast Demerara.
Investigators described the victim as an unidentified female of East Indian decent, fair in complexion, five feet tall, about 20 years old, and clad in a pair of tights (leggings) and a pink top. Her body was taken to the GPHC mortuary.
The Guyana Police Force said the Lance Corporal was proceeding east on the southern side of the northern carriageway allegedly within the stipulated speed limit when the pedestrian ran across the road from north to south into the path of the vehicle and collided.
She was picked up by the said policeman and rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state where she died.
Police said he “was found above the legal alcohol limit following a fatal accident” Sunday night at about 9:50 on the Ogle Public Road, East Coast Demerara.
Investigators described the victim as an unidentified female of East Indian decent, fair in complexion, five feet tall, about 20 years old, and clad in a pair of tights (leggings) and a pink top. Her body was taken to the GPHC mortuary.
The Guyana Police Force said the Lance Corporal was proceeding east on the southern side of the northern carriageway allegedly within the stipulated speed limit when the pedestrian ran across the road from north to south into the path of the vehicle and collided.
She was picked up by the said policeman and rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state where she died.
Georgetown – Tarasingh, a 52-year-old farmer of Coconut Dam, Naarstigheid, West Coast of Berbice has lost his two-story wooden and concrete home that went up in flames two Fridays ago. He estimates his loss to be over $1.5M.
The man said that on Friday at around 5:00pm he, along with his 14-year-old daughter, secured the home and left to sell their produce at the Parika Market. At around 11:00 pm that evening, neighbours called informing him that his entire home was engulfed in flames. He quickly returned and was met with the raging fire destroying his home.
The man is of the view that arsonists torched his home, citing an ongoing issue with a top Region 5 official regarding the plot of land the house was built on. He admitted to squatting on the land that belongs to the government but was awaiting completion of government's land regularization process.
The man said that on Friday at around 5:00pm he, along with his 14-year-old daughter, secured the home and left to sell their produce at the Parika Market. At around 11:00 pm that evening, neighbours called informing him that his entire home was engulfed in flames. He quickly returned and was met with the raging fire destroying his home.
The man is of the view that arsonists torched his home, citing an ongoing issue with a top Region 5 official regarding the plot of land the house was built on. He admitted to squatting on the land that belongs to the government but was awaiting completion of government's land regularization process.
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