Mayor agrees with President that “City Hall is a disaster”

Jun 11, 2014 News

….but blames PPP govt.

By Zena Henry
The Mayor of Georgetown has embraced recently made statements by Head of State Donald Ramotar that “City Hall is a disaster.” He (the Mayor) however puts 100 percent of the blame on the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government for the “emasculation and assault of the democratic process.”
Mayor Hamilton Green also pointed fingers at the party for their unwillingness to allow the Mayor and Councillors to manage and run the city. He then issued a challenge to President on a public debate, “to prove that the problem faced in Georgetown is a direct result of the PPP’s attitude toward Georgetown.”
The Mayor and his Deputy, Patricia Chase-Green held a press conference yesterday in a bid to highlight a number of matters affecting the Council as a result of the government’s interference at City Hall. They expressed concern over Minister Norman Whittaker directing Chief Constable Andrew Foo to allow controversial figure Sean Hinds to enter City Hall’s compound. Hinds, a well-known figure, is performing security services for embattled acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba.
However, the Mayor and majority of Councillors have expressed discomfort with Hinds being stationed in the compound and made their concerns known to the Chief Constable. Mayor Green told the media that when the Chief Constable was about to act on Hinds’s presence in the compound, the Local Government Minister would have intervened in the matter and told Foo to “back off”.
The Chief Constable told Kaieteur News that Sooba had formally notified the Constabulary via letter that Hinds is her bodyguard and he would be in the compound. He also mentioned a meeting with the Local Government Minister, Norman Whittaker, who told him to leave Hinds alone. Foo said therefore that the matter involving Hinds is a dead one.
The Mayor and his Deputy also raised an issue that the acting Town Clerk had chosen to pay only the PPP councillors that support her and failed to pay out stipends to those councillors who oppose her. Chase- Green said Sooba was paying out the stipends as it suit her, but last month, the stipends which allow councillors to carry out their functions around the city, were not paid at all.
The Local Government Minister was again accused of getting involved in the Council’s affairs. The Deputy Mayor said she had written the Auditor General (AG) over half a million dollars which Sooba obtained without the Council’s permission and used for payments to an attorney.
She said that the AG is yet to respond to the request for an investigation into the matter but it has been revealed that Minister Whittaker and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall would have advised the AG that established accounting procedures were followed when Sooba took the money. “It is a lie,” Chase-Green said, before explaining Council’s procedures towards obtaining money. The involvement of the Ministers, she said, was related in a letter from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) which was also called in to investigate the matter.
The Mayor and Deputy also spoke about Monday’s statutory meeting which was adjourned. The Mayor deemed the behaviour of certain councillors unfitting to continue the meeting. Several issues were raised, including concerns that the Solid Waste Director Walter Narine was blatantly refusing to answer questions posed to him by the Mayor and councillors. The Town Clerk charged that the Mayor could only speak to the officers through her.
The Mayor expressed disappointment over the behaviour of Councillor Kamala Devi-Ross, whom he said repeatedly disrupted the proceedings. The Deputy Mayor had also asked to be excused from the meeting after pointing out that racial preferences and racial discrimination was being exhibited by the Town Clerk and her supporters.
There was also conflict when the issue of repairing City Hall’s building was raised. The Council will be 125 years old on July 1 and the Ministry of Culture held a forum where certain persons of the Council were invited, including the Deputy Mayor. Allegations were however raised that the Deputy and others chose whom they wanted to go to the forum and Chase-Green had cause to clarify the matter.
However, the acting Town Clerk expressed that she is the one responsible for matters concerning the repair of City Hall. The meeting concluded with certain matters not being addressed.

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Mayor agrees with President that “City Hall is a disaster”

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