Sherod Duncan should be given a car

Jul 23, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor;
Each time the Mayor of Georgetown opens her mouth she ends up putting her foot inside of it. Her most recent gaffe before winging out to Chile was to announce that the Deputy Mayor is not entitled to transportation and other benefits by law. That may be so, but then again there are a lot of persons at City Hall that are enjoying a lot of benefits to which they are not entitled to by law, but that does not prevent them from so doing including her good self.
If we look at the Town Clerk, we always see him accompanied by a retinue of bodyguards to which he is not entitled by law. He may wish to point to his predecessor having a bodyguard, but that was not paid for by the Council as in his case. By convention Town Clerks enjoyed state security at their residences which he also does. He is not entitled by law to more than car being provided for his convenience including one that is being rented. He is only entitled to one driver. One hopes he’s using the entertainment allowance which he is paid each month and nothing more.
The City Engineer has been provided with a large four-wheel drive vehicle manufactured by Nissan for his use. Is he entitled to it by law? The senior officers at City Hall are not entitled by law to be provided with state of the art cellular telephones with voice and data services being paid for by the Council, including roaming charges and overseas calls.
The Mayor, Town Clerk and City Engineer are not entitled by law to use the vehicles that are assigned to them to transport them all over Guyana, but rather should just be using them in and around Georgetown to carry out their duties. In fact it was most unfortunate and improper that one of the Council’s drivers died recently on the West Coast of Demerara whilst transporting home the children of a senior officer, way outside of the confines of Georgetown.
But surely the government could make a vehicle available to the Deputy Mayor just as they made one available to the Town Clerk, or is it that the Deputy Mayor wants to be the only city official pursuing the dream of making Georgetown a green city whilst the others are chugging around town in their gas guzzling SUVs and luxury cars that are helping to pollute the environment? Laws and Entitlements apply to all, or only to some?
Shanta Singh

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