Latest update January 1st, 2025 1:00 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

The government must stop corruption in the City Council

Sep 08, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

 

When the PPP was in government, its balance-sheet of corruption and human rights violations were so bad that the nation hardly had time to examine the performance record of the City Council. But we tended to sympathize with the City Council because the PPP administration acted like a bully towards it.

Most Guyanese knew that the PPP had taken over the Georgetown City Council of which the most egregious manifestation was the imposition of Carol Sooba.

Guyana has entered new territory with the election of the APNU-AFC Government and with it has come the end of centralized stranglehold of the City Council. But society and the new government must take a more than passing look at the Georgetown City Council. To say from 1995 to the present time the City Council has not been involved in corruption would be a nasty joke. If you look around Greater Georgetown you will see graphic evidence of a legacy of venality in the City Council.

Money was taken from privileged people and wealthy business places for concessions which we can see by just taking a five minute walk around Georgetown. This columnist knows of dozens of cases in which City Council officials accepted bribes from untouchables. These untouchables must now be confronted by both civil society and the Granger/Nagamootoo administration.

The City Council itself has provided us with an opportunity to ask questions. It has embarked on a campaign to stop encumbrances on the parapets and pavements and to deny permits that violate the residential status of Georgetown. But the legacy of corruption is going to embarrass City Hall.

Can the City Council move against business places that its officials took money from? How are they going to do it? They can’t. It is for the media, civil society and the central government to act. We can start with the latest example of a school that has to cease operations on Issano Street in Bel Air Park.

City Council stated that the school was in violation of section 34 of the Municipal and District Act. But one of the richest men in Guyana just completed the construction of a business place in the heart of Lamaha Gardens. This is right in the middle of a residential area.

The people of Lamaha Gardens did not object because the violator was one of their fellow untouchables.

It simply means that if you do not have money to bribe the City Council you will face the hammer. If you have wealth then you can put the City Council in your pocket. Do you know that Mae’s School in Subryanville is in identical violation of what the City Council has accused that school of doing in Bel Air Park? Go to Mae’s School any day and you will see the traffic mess it creates in Subryanville and on Sheriff Street. Mae’s has a branch on Middleton Street and it took over the pavement and erected a permanent steel canopy.

Now we are reaching an interesting stage in the new life of the City Council. It has placed an advertisement in the newspapers warning citizens to remove obstacles whether large or small from the public parapets and pavements. The City Council has gone about in recent days removing these structures and in some situations used their sledge hammer to demolish structures that were illegal. Here is where the media come in. I anticipate the birth of a barefaced immorality.

Ordinary citizens will face the wrath of the City Council while those with money will remain untouched. And given the culture in City Hall they are going to adopt a barefaced attitude. The Guyanese people will see photographs of demolition exercises on a selected basis.

The unnerving thing about the City Council’s one-sided campaign is that the wealthy people of this country are going to protect their own. If that school in Bel Air Park was owned by one of the untouchables, there would have been silence from its neighbours.

I am not saying that the school was right to do what it did. I am contending that there must not be a class of untouchables in Guyana who can do whatever they want because of their wealth. The residents of Lamaha Gardens knew that the business place was going up and so did the City Council.

It takes just one look to see how privatized some of the pavements and parapets have become not just of Georgetown but throughout Guyana. Does this new Government want to emulate the former PPP Minister this newspaper referred to as Bruk-Up Benn? Bruk-Up Benn never touched the rich violators.

I am watching the City Council and so should you.

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Keevin Allicock – the next torchbearer for Guyanese professional boxing

Keevin Allicock – the next torchbearer for Guyanese professional...

Dec 31, 2024

By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports- In the rich tapestry of Guyanese sports, few names shine as brightly as Keevin Allicock. A prodigious talent with the rare blend of skill, charisma, and grit, Allicock...
Read More
Guyana Harpy Eagles begin Fitness Preparation for 2025 CWI Regional Four-Day Tournament

Guyana Harpy Eagles begin Fitness Preparation for...

Dec 31, 2024

The business end has arrived, a place in the final is at stake tomorrow night

The business end has arrived, a place in the...

Dec 31, 2024

Thirteen-year-old benefits from Project “Cricket Gear for young and promising cricketers in Guyana”

Thirteen-year-old benefits from Project...

Dec 31, 2024

Milerock stop Winners Connection 9-3 behind Drakes 5 goal spree, Botafago humble Capital Fc 8-3

Milerock stop Winners Connection 9-3 behind...

Dec 31, 2024

Dharry reigns supreme with second-round KO against Ramirez

Dharry reigns supreme with second-round KO...

Dec 30, 2024

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]