San Antonio Village
Toledo District
22/3/10
Dear Editor,
I am obliged to correct parts of an article appearing in your weekly newspaper dated March 21, 2010, captioned “Chairman of Punta Gorda’s Water Board charged with two counts of theft.”
At the same time, I want to applaud the efforts of your writer, but I want to encourage those who contribute articles to any newspaper to be responsible in ensuring that the contents of these articles are factual in every section.
The very title of this article is misleading, because Punta Gorda Town does not have a water board, since it is served by BWSL, and San Antonio Village is 21 miles away from the boundaries of Punta Gorda Town and has its own water system, managed by a local water board.
The second misleading statement is that according to the article, Hon. Juan Coy is the one who had selected Emergildo Ah as the Water Board Chairman, and was also the one to “expose” Ah, so “making an example of him” to prove that his administration is a “no tolerance” one.”
This is totally the opposite. Here are the facts and you can recheck for its authenticity.
A village water board is recommended by the Hon. Juan Coy and the village council. Records will prove that 99% of water board members are handpicked political cohorts.
Mr. Emergildo Ah was rewarded with that post for his political support for the Hon. Juan Coy. The villagers are angry over the process of selecting water board members. So when an incident like this occurs, the Hon. Coy must take part of the blame.
This is the very example that needs to be exposed for the handpicking of political cronies. A non-member of the Board withdrew money from the water board funds on two separate occasions in February 2010.
The non-member was replaced in November 2009, but because of an oversight, his name was not removed as one of the signatories to this bank account. The loss to the people is $8,200.
The Hon. Coy was not the one who reported this incident either, which would have been to his own detriment.
The fact is that this withdrawal was not approved or authorized by the Water Board. The people of San Antonio were always suspicious of some mismanagement happening within the Board, but were unable to get any truthful information from the board members.
However, two months into his new work area, the New Rural Development Officer, Mr. Efrain Cowo, has uncovered this mismanagement.
For this, the people of San Antonio are very grateful. A public meeting was held to inform the people of this major fraud and there is no mention of the Hon. Coy championing the reporting or uncovering of this case.
The boldness of the other board members to condemn their colleague must also be acknowledged, since this is an action against the current area representative.
Mr. Ah is a thorn in the side of the people of San Antonio.
Lastly, we want to encourage Mr. Cowo to continue to be vigilant in the protection of the people’s money.
Thank you
Juan Bol
San Antonio Village
(Ed. NOTE: The statements that could be interpreted as being complimentary of Hon. Coy were given to us by a resident of the area. He has as much right as Mr. Bol to voice his opinions, even if they are contrary to what Mr. Bol believes.)