TIME FOR THE GASKIN REPORT TO BE MADE PUBLIC

Aug 21, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Independence ruined Georgetown. As a colonial town it was enchanting, but by the time independence was won the seeds of destruction had already been sown and the demise of the once city of gardens, the most enchanting town in the Caribbean, had begin to lose its glitter.
Georgetown is now an overpopulated, poorly zoned and disordered city.
Walking through the streets of Georgetown, which A. J. Seymour once described as the best way to see the town, is now a most precarious activity. Vendors squat on the pavements and in front of stores, giving the city an outlook of a fish market rather than the well regarded city that it once was.
The municipality, which was entrusted with administering the affairs of the city, has not had local government elections since 1994, and there are some individuals who actually believe that they still represent the will of the people, and would not see the wisdom of stepping aside so that some interim management committee can be established to save the city, and by extension, the reputation of the country.
There has been for many years, a tense relationship between central government and the municipality. And there have been charges and counter charges. The government feels that City Hall is not properly managed and City Hall is fond of complaining that it is cash-strapped.
In an attempt to address the growing concerns of citizens, and also perhaps to establish that there are problems with the political management of the city, the government many years ago launched a commission of inquiry into the functioning of the Georgetown municipality.
The work of the commission did not seem to end, giving rise to suspicions that the commissioners were being so swamped with evidence of wrongdoing and skullduggery that they needed more time to lay bare the sad state of affairs of the city.
That commission went on for ages and when it was completed produced voluminous reports, most of which are too tedious to read. Such was the details to which the report went into, that it took up many volumes for the report to be printed. Interestingly no one was sent packing as a result of that report. There must have been persons within the government who would have been disappointed with the report by the Commission of Inquiry, for it did not provide the ammunition for the shake-up of the Georgetown City Council, which so many had been expecting. The much anticipated indictments did not materialize.
The government, however, took a decision to appoint the lead Commissioner to implement the recommendations of the Commission. That process was also going on for some time when a report into the implementation process was prepared and reportedly unearthed a number of problems.
What the report of the commission of inquiry failed to do, the report on the implementation of the recommendations of the commission of inquiry did. A number of things were said to be worrying, and a decision was subsequently taken to send home a number of senior officers of the council until such time as a detailed probe by the police is complete.
That probe seems also to be taking its good time. By the time it is completed perhaps local government elections are going to be held and a new council would be elected.
There is a new mood in the country, a new spirit of political cooperation that is taking place. It may not always be friendly, but cooperation is taking place, and the government is acting differently these days than it did nine months ago.
It is now time for the initial report which led to the sending home of the officers to be made public so that the citizens of the city can know what was reportedly found that led to such strong action. It cannot also be fair for the officers to be kept off the job while the probe drags on. As such, those responsible for the probe should produce an interim report as to what is taking place.
There needs to be a full probe into the affairs of the city’s municipality and the details of Gaskin Report need to be made public now, not after the probe is completed, because the citizens of Georgetown are not sure when or if that probe will ever be finished.
In the meantime, the report into the Gaskin Report should be made public and debated, because there is a need to restore the city to some semblance or cleanliness and order, but this will never happen unless the ratepayers who will eventually be asked to pay more in rates and taxes are convinced that they are obtaining value for money.
And the only way to convince them about that is to show that where there have been loopholes, underperformance or malpractices, action will be taken to improve the governance of the city.

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