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City Council will take legal action over withheld allowances

Jun 17, 2013 News

Another row is brewing at the Mayor and City Council and this time it’s over Councilor’s allowances to perform Council duties. For some, their monies were either lessened or withheld by the Town Clerk (ag) Carol Sooba, reportedly on the orders of Minister within the Local Government Ministry Norman Whitaker.
The issue, created a major buzz last week since Councilors charged that their money was withheld based on the number of time they attended Council meetings, which according to them, is the lesser part of their duties.
Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green said that the Council is prepared to head to the courts if the money-provided under the law- for Councilors is not returned. He told Kaieteur News in an interview last week that the Council will remain intact, but legal action is an option if allowances are not returned. He opined that the Council is faced with a situation, ‘where the Town Clerk, at the behest of the Minister, appears to defy every decision taken by the duly and democratically elected Council,” and described the situation as an unusual one heading for a crisis.
The Mayor saw the decision by Minister Whitaker as ‘quite unfortunate since there is no basis in law for the Town Clerk to deduct the money from Councilors.’ Mayor Green pointed out that a Councilor’s role is not only to come to meetings. “When Councilor Shepherd goes to the people in her community in Sophia, she is doing public service as a Councilor,” he gave as an example.
Mayor Green charged that if the right thing is not done and Councilors’ money returned, “We will either have to go to the court or take political action.” He informed that political parties have already been alerted and a meeting will be held soon.
In the meantime, Green posited that Councilors will not surrender. When asked if they will withdraw services until their pay is returned, he explained that the Council will continue to function.   Last week Councilors voted for the Town Clerk to return their allowances. Many were not convinced that the instructions would be followed given what they described as the continued disregard for Council decisions.
Minister Whitaker told Kaieteur News that he instructed the Town Clerk to withhold Councilor’s money since they could not be paid for not attending Council meetings. He said that is how their performances are being assessed even if they do not say anything at the meetings.

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