I don’t normally reply to the utterances of this gentleman

Oct 24, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor;
Please refer to a news item which appeared in your Kaieteur News issue of Wednesday, October 19, 2016 “The Town Clerk should be removed immediately — Deputy Mayor” p8.
Usually, I do not respond to the utterances of the Deputy Mayor, even when such utterances are glaringly inaccurate like the one where, on a public television newscast, he accused me of running up a bill on council’s account for food and drinks with colleagues at Pegasus. The records show that the event to which he referred was one which the council agreed to on the occasion of Nurses’ Day to honour our hard working nurses’
He alleged corruption, on the part of some councillors, including the Chairman of Council’s Finance Committee, and the Town Clerk, with the contract for the installation of parking meters in the city. Also, there were many posts, riddled with inaccuracies, on social media by Mr. Duncan. He has not found the grace to apologise or even withdraw those inaccurate statements.
Disturbingly, I have noticed a certain pattern of misinformation, which, if not addressed, could mislead unsuspecting citizens and negatively affect the development and progress of the council and city. As a result, and given my responsibilities as Town Clerk, I feel obliged to reply to any and all inaccuracies in letters and/ or statements, by Mr. Sherod Duncan, particularly those in the public media.
Speaking specifically to the issues raised by Mr. Duncan in the Kaieteur News, I have to say that after many months at the Mayor and City Council, Mr. Duncan continues to demonstrate a woeful lack of knowledge of municipal systems, the duties and responsibilities of the Town Clerk and other Statutory Officers and the general and specific operations of the Georgetown Municipality.
I say that respectfully but worryingly because, notwithstanding efforts at the level of the council, the Deputy Mayor continues to make inaccurate utterances. Let us examine three matters raised in this report in Kaieteur News.
First, I wish to touch on the Auditor General’s Report. An audit of the council’s financial records revealed certain shortcomings and weaknesses in the system. This, as I understand it, is one objective of any audit. And we are happy that, the audit did flag those areas of weaknesses. And we welcome any discussion, audit or findings that would facilitate improvement of our systems.
However, the discrepancies found are largely due to carelessness and lack of diligence on the part of the department with direct responsibilities for such matters. Nevertheless, since that report, administration has taken a new approach with a view to securing the integrity of its financial procedures, processes and systems and to ensuring strict adherence to the relevant bylaws and policies. This includes a comprehensive training programme particularly in the area of good corporate governance.
It is not necessary for me to mention that the Mayor and City Council is a local government body; the government for the national capital at the local level that provides a plethora of vital municipal services to its citizens. Also, it receives subventions from the national purse. Therefore, it must be subjected to audits to continually strengthen and improve its ability to account for its resources and to be more efficient and effective in its specific and general responsibilities to local communities and the city.
Second, Mr. Duncan continues to mislead the public, through inaccurate information, on the parking meter contract. I have said ad nausea that, the project was negotiated by the previous council under the Mayoralty of Hamilton Green since 1995. It was a decision of the council. All decisions of council are legal and binding on all councillors, officers and the council.
Again, a new contract was not negotiated but the originalcontract was amended to account for concerns, clarifications and recommendations by the government. I wish to make this point that we respect and honour our government; we are prepared to listen and consider any and all recommendations coming from the government, at all times.
The Parking Meter project is intended to ease the traffic congestion and bring some semblance of order on the city streets. Many modern cities are using parking meters. It is the norm around the world; even some of our very own sister Caribbean states have this system in place and they function exceptionally well.
This is why its implementation in Guyana should not be a foreign concept as some may want to make it seem. It is not to keep up with ‘the trend’ by any means but it will be used as a starting point to re-organise parking in the City area.
Though it is known that Georgetown was never intended to accommodate the population it currently boasts, new structures and/or expansions are continuously being erected and more vehicles are on the city streets every day.
Over the years, this expansion has been accompanied by the violation, and in many instances, blatant disregard of a number of building code regulations.
The consequences amongst many others have been encumbrances on our pavements, lack of parking facilities and compromised drainage systems; with numerous potentials for far reaching environmental and public health negatives
Royston King
Town Clerk

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