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Outgoing City Mayor recalls highs and lows of tenure
– hopeful that new Mayor will continue belated strides made
He is arguably the longest serving Mayor, not only in Guyana, but also in the Caribbean. An end to Hamilton Green’s tenure as Mayor of Georgetown is imminent. In fact, by the end of this week – following Local Government Elections (LGE) tomorrow, Friday, March 18, 2016 – his successor will be named.
Outgoing Mayor of Georgetown, Mr. Hamilton Green
Green was first elected to the office of Mayor in August 1994. And according to him, he leaves a legacy, though belatedly, of putting measures in place to bring back the integrity of the capital city. He was at the time making reference to efforts at cleaning and restoring the city, including markets and other municipal buildings, and improving the vending situation.
These measures were only implemented last year. And Green yesterday attributed this to the lack of support from the then Government.
He disclosed that in spite of him holding that office for nearly 20 years, for the majority of those he was prevented from being productive by the previous administration – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.
“At every turn I was suffocated by the previous administration. To restore the integrity of the city I needed to be able to manage, I needed money and manpower. The PPP denied me all three,” related the Mayor.
The PPP, according to Green, was even able to infiltrate his relationship with all of the Town Clerks during his tenure, with the exception of Mr. Prince Melville. “They in one way or another came under the control of the Minister (of Local Government under the PPP)…the worse by far was (Carol) Sooba,” related the outgoing Mayor.
An outstanding assault on his mayorship that he recalls well, is when Government had allocated $500 million for the city but City Hall was denied any involvement in how it was spent. The money, according to Green, was handled exclusively by the Local Government Ministry. “When by way of letter we asked what works were done so that we could at least maintain them, we got no response,” Green remembered.
But according to him, his ability to thrive as a Mayor was however fast-tracked when the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition was elected to office following the May 11, 2015 Regional and General Elections.
And Green is hopeful that his successor will embrace and continue the strides that he was able to spearhead since last year, including ensuring that cooperation is fostered to ensure valuation of city properties, particularly the new ones.
He is optimistic too that the new Mayor will ensure that due diligence and transparency are hallmarks of the office.
And training of staffers at all levels is another feature that he expects the new Mayor will continue.
Today, Mayor Green will be convening his final meeting with staffers of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown, during which he is expected to apprise them of the imminent changes that are slated to occur after the local government elections. Green is also today expected to bid farewell to the old Council.
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