Findings of AG report still in limbo says Mayor Green

Jul 01, 2009 News

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– But Burrowes highlights instances of skulduggery

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” said City Mayor Hamilton Green as he highlighted the fact that the findings of the 2007 Auditor General (AG) Report of the Georgetown municipality remains in limbo one year after it was presented.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday the Mayor expressed trepidation that efforts to bring a resolution to the facts uncovered by the AG seem long in coming.
“We are extremely concerned that last month marked the anniversary of the submission of the report of the AG. The AG was pellucid and clear as to the violation of the law, moral and otherwise, that took place over the years at City Hall, a matter I have been complaining about.”
Emphasising his convictions, Green noted that there is no way that any entity could be governed properly unless it has proper management and money. As such he speculated that something has to be wrong that after one year there has been no restoration of the municipality.
“We cannot get a resolution of the officers whom we sent on leave and are being paid fully, therefore there is a hiatus, creating a situation of uncertainty.”
According to the Mayor he had had cause to meet with the staff of the Treasury Department recently as there seems to be a basic problem of loyalty towards one person or another.
“This interregnum is hurting the municipality. I have no doubt that Keith Burrowes (Commissioner of Inquiry) is well intentioned and in fact has broadened, quite substantially, his inquiry of the scope of operations.
He has shown a willingness to help us but the old cliché holds good; that justice delayed is justice denied…”
Burrowes, based on the request of the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Kellawan Lall, commenced an inquiry last September into the findings of the AG report.
As Commissioner he was also tasked with deriving relevant recommendations.
The report was completed a few months ago and was handed over to the Minister who was expected to unveil the recommendations. However, the detection of an alleged multi-million dollar fraud at City Hall recently saw the Minister granting Burrowes additional time to amend the report taking any possible fraudulent activities into consideration.
The delay in reaching a resolution, according to the Mayor, is a most unsatisfactory situation which from all indication “seems to me that we are merely mirroring a fractured judicial system which I believe is impacting negatively on the whole moral structure of our society where people can get away with clear violation of the law.”
Green said if one examines the AG Report of 2006 and 2007 it would be hard to avoid getting the impression that people are following the pattern set by the national leaders of not accounting for and misspending money.
“The picture is certainly not one that will provide an enthusiastic response to our young people and those who will like to make Guyana their own. I am calling publicly for an end to this hiatus so that we can get on with the business…,” said the Mayor.
But according to Burrowes in an invited comment last evening, there is no way he will rush the extension of the inquiry simply to please people.
He said that while the Mayor may rightly need a resolution as it relates to the two officers implicated in the report, dealing with them is only one aspect of the inquiry.
“The mayor himself knows how difficult it is to get the relevant information. Is it that he wants me to knock off people so that he can be happy? Is he not concerned about the long- term benefits?” questioned an evidently enraged Burrowes.
He pointed to the fact that if in order to undertake a thorough process the two implicated officers have to remain on the job, the municipality should be prepared to invest the officers’ salaries in order to rid the problems that exists.
“He seems obsessed with these two people but when I weigh the cost and how much it will save tax payers, this process will significantly compensate for what he is paying these people.”
“My obsession is with ensuring that as far as possible I bring about a change by reducing skulduggery prevailing under his (Green) watch and to make sure that when the report is finish there will be real improvement,” Burrowes passionately emphasised.
Outside of the Mayor’s obsession, the Commissioner noted that he has been able to substantially help officers of the municipality to implement a number of needful recommendations.
He related that it was just last Saturday that he met with staffers to offer guidance on the preparation of results based on the budget for this year.
As part of the continuation of the inquiry, Burrowes said that he and his supporting team have been able to uncover evidence of skulduggery in two critical areas as it relates to sums granted and compliances.
And according to Burrowes he has been in contact with the police up to yesterday as the detected frauds at the municipality are in fact police matters.
The Commissioner related to this newspaper that based on his discussions with the police and the approach that is being used, it is possible that the inquiry could be wrapped up by next week.

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