Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Govt. release 3rd Qtr. taxes to M&CC with conditions
– Corbin will not support IMC call by President
City Mayor Hamilton Green, yesterday in an invited comment in relation to President Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent statements, said that they represent a clear case of divide and conquer, adding that he was hopeful that his Deputy (Robert Williams) would not be susceptible to the President.
Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin
According to Green, in no democratic country would the president make such lewd comments, adding that it is he that the President must be negotiating with.
He posited that should the US government have a problem with Jagdeo, then it would resort to negotiations with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
According to Green, as it relates to the suggestions of an Interim Management Committee, it clearly indicates that the President wants control over all of the facets in the country.
“How could the president talk about IMC in the face of Local Government Elections?”
Green suggested that should the President have a problem with him, then he should launch a campaign against him and tell the people that he is incompetent and come election time they will cast their vote.
Responding to the President’s comments about his proposals, Green was quick to point out that the idea of a lottery was his suggestion to earn revenue for the city but he was prevented from doing this adding that, “every little bit helps.”
He mentioned too that the City and the Guyana Power and Light were close to an agreement to have the power company pay a fee for the usage of parapets to plant its utility poles.
City Mayor Hamilton Green
Green reported also that he was made to understand that the meeting yesterday with government officials and the City Engineer as well as the Town Clerk, has seen the government agreeing to pay their third quarter taxes, which according to Green, was already due.
What Green was more upset about was the fact that the money in the vicinity of some $40M was released upon the condition that the money be paid to the contractors.
This according to Green was ludicrous, “you owe us that money and want to tell us what we must do with it.”
According to Green, it is unlikely that the money would not have been paid to contractors that pulled their services to clean the city, but at the end of the day, it is the Mayor and Councilors that make that decision.
Green said that this was an unprecedented scenario, adding that the actions of the President would not be tolerated in any other part of the world.
Meanwhile, leader of the main opposition party, Robert Corbin, has responded to the President’s notion that should he agree he will impose an IMC.
According to Corbin, the statement purported to be made by President Jagdeo and reported in the media about the establishment of an IMC in Georgetown, is clear evidence of the President’s attempt to change the focus of the present political debate of the criminality of his administration.
Corbin stated that the criminality of the Jagdeo Administration has not only been highlighted by the recent evidence exposed in the case of Robert Simels, but by the publication of the letter purported to be sent by Minister Ramsammy authorising the purchase of the spy computer on behalf of the Jagdeo Government.
“The Media, the Guyanese public and party members, in particular, should not allow their focus to be diverted from the PNCR’s immediate objectives. The establishment of an IMC in Georgetown is a non-issue, in so far as the PNCR and the Leader of the Opposition are concerned.”
According to Corbin, the matter surfaced some years ago when the Jagdeo Administration was seeking to exert political control over Georgetown to achieve political advantages ahead of Local Government Elections, and the PNCR had expressed its total opposition to such an initiative and urged the completion of Local Government Reform and the early holding of Local Government Elections.
“It is therefore mind boggling that President Jagdeo, who recently attacked the Chairman of the Elections Commission for delaying the Local Government Poll, should now even be entertaining the thought of an IMC in Georgetown when he should be working to ensure the early holding of Local Government Elections. The PNCR position and that of the Leader of the Opposition are unambiguous: Local Government elections under the Reformed Local Government System is the priority.”
He noted therefore that the PNCR would not entertain any intermediate steps. “The problems being experienced by the City of Georgetown are clear manifestations of the obsolete system of Local Democracy, which the Jagdeo Administration seems reluctant to change. In simple language, neither the Leader of the Opposition nor the PNCR would agree to the establishment of any IMC in Georgetown.”
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