Minister Persaud has let all of us down

Dec 16, 2013 Letters

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Dear Sir,
Where else in the world can a Minister of government set up an interviewing panel with terms of reference, to recruit, select and appoint a senior public official then just simply disregard the hard work, professional integrity of its members and recommendations and appoint the least qualified applicant, which the panel deemed unfit and unsuited for the position? This political appointment has placed political expediency over the efficient and effective management of the city. Then the government blames the incumbent Mayor and City Council for all the ills of the city. It is perverse.
A few weeks ago, Minister Ganga Persuad of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development appointed Carol Sooba to the position of Town Clerk, of Georgetown. The Minister reportedly said that his action was based on the fact that Ms. Sooba has experience and that she has matured over the period of time she had acted.
What the Minister did not say was that during that time, the Council passed two No Confidence motions against her. The kernel of the motions said that Ms. Sooba lacks the competencies and skills to carry out the functions of the office of the Town Clerk. The motions were sent to the Minister. He did nothing about them.
More, the Council repeatedly complained about Ms. Sooba’s lack of understanding of her role resulting in her flouting almost every decision of Council and even usurping the authority of Council and other Statutory Officers, including the City Engineer and the Chief Constable. She has arbitrarily cut the allowances of Councilors thereby inhibiting their ability to do work in their areas among citizens. Perhaps, the PPP/C thinks that this would bring them political gains; they are wrong because Guyanese are not fooled by the actions of the government which betray their utterances of trying to help the city; they are destroying it.
In one case, the Town Clerk, defied a decision of the Council and terminated the contract of Cevons’ Waste Management while allowing Puran Brothers to continue doing business with the Council. She failed to understand the basic activity of management-planning. The result is the extra burden of solid waste in the City’s fragile drainage system and flooding in certain areas during heavy rains. Therefore, her experience is not credible. In any case, there are people with far more experience in the Council than Ms. Sooba.
The maturity to which the Minister referred is still to be seen. Ms. Sooba seems to lack basic human relations skills and good manners. She comes across as arrogant with a self-exaggerated ego. After one year, she still has a very difficult time getting along with Councillors, senior and junior staff at City Council and even members of the public. I do not know how the Minister has been measuring her level of maturity during her acting period. It is amazing that a Minister of Government can actually give that as a reason for appointing Ms. Sooba to the position of Town Clerk without saying how it was measured.
Another myth used by the PPP/C to keep Sooba there is that she has improved Council’s revenue. But everyone at City Council knows that when it comes to money, she is doing worse than her predecessors.
Deductions to National Insurance Scheme and Guyana Revenue Authority for workers, for November and December 2013 have not been paid over to those agencies. There is no money. Also, there has been no major capital works or even improvement of basic core services to the citizens for more than a year because there is no money. Where is the money? They talk about her paying salaries on time. That is a routine in any organization; there is nothing extraordinary about that.
Further, the Council and the Guyana Labour Union and the Local Government Officers Union representing employees at City Council agreed that a 5% increase should be paid on or before December 31, 2013 to workers retroactive to January 2012. It is not likely that workers will get that in this year because there is no money.
Council’s accounts have not been audited since 2004. There is no Internal Audit Section in the Council; the recommendations of Mr. Keith Burrowes have not been implemented. The Town Clerk, Ms. Sooba has not sought to focus her attention in that direction to facilitate an upgrade of public confidence and trust in its operations, rather she has been antagonizing staff, and reducing supplies to the Mayor’s office, she has been disrespectful to the Mayor and Councillors-the people’s representatives and refusing to carry out their decisions.
Look at the condition of the city. It is rotting with garbage in every corner, clogged drains, flooding, untidy parapets, broken roads and general lawlessness. In the Council, there is low staff morale, lack of effective training programmes in all areas; most of the Council’s trucks are in a workshop that is not equipped to deal with effective maintenance of modern equipment and vehicles, broken and unkempt buildings. City Hall is in an advanced stage of disrepair and its surroundings are always untidy.
Yet Ms. Sooba receives the highest praise and promotion from the government. Taken in the context of statements made by Former Minister of Local Government, Mr. Kellawan Lall, that he had wished for a health crisis to remove the Council from office, this adulation of Sooba by the incumbent Minister of Local Government, Mr. Ganga Persaud is pointing to something-the total collapse of the systems of City Hall, which would then give the PPP/C the excuse to set up an Interim Management Committee. It is a stupid political move that will eventually backfire on the government.
Government has been trying to make her look good by spending extra money from the public purse to do works in the city, including garbage cleanup campaigns and drainage but it is not working.
Imagine the Council is unable to superintend its own officers. The Minister now decides who should be employed in a democratically elected and functioning Mayor and City Council.
What is troubling is that Minister Persaud has let all of us down because many years ago, he worked with the Ministry of Education as a teacher, in Region 3. He ought to know the importance of education, training, academic qualifications and certification. Yet, he appointed Ms. Sooba to a very senior position in an organization that is in very serious crisis. What is his message now to the children he has encouraged to educate and qualify themselves? Is it that political loyalty must be given preference over education and qualification or there is no need for qualification if you are a PPP/C member because promotion is automatic?
Finally, all officers and workers of the Georgetown and other Municipalities, Towns and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, must take note of this appointment because it demonstrates that no one’s position is safe. At any time, whenever it pleases the Minister, any officer can be removed from his/her office due to the automatic recruitment or promotion of PPP/C comrades. If the Minister can appoint an unqualified individual to the top position at the City Council and get away with it, then all officers are vulnerable; no position is secure.
Aubrey James

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