The parking meter thing is not a contract but a deal

Oct 28, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
The recent attempt via the letters column of the Kaieteur News newspaper by the Town Clerk of Georgetown, Mr. Royston King to respond to the concerns expressed by the Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Mr. Sherod Duncan, only serves to show further, what a narrow-minded person Royston King is.
Let us be clear, all of King’s actions in depriving the Deputy Mayor of the trappings that go along with the Office of the Mayor when Duncan was carrying out those duties, and which necessitated the intervention of the Minister of Communities, have nothing to do with any attempt by King to subscribe to the rule of law or to do what is just or right, it is vindictiveness because Mr. Duncan has been highlighting the incompetence and unsuitability of King for the job of Chief Administrative Officer of the Georgetown Municipality.
King’s endless interpretations and references to the law is laughable, as first of all he is no lawyer nor does he have any legal training, a prerequisite qualification for the Job of Town Clerk which he only got because of his friends in the old Council, whist Duncan whom he accuses of being ignorant of the law and duties of office bearers has a Bachelor’s of Law Degree. But more importantly, every citizen of Georgetown knows that the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, as a body, is the most lawless entity in the country, and therefore King could not be serious in what he is saying.
First, King talks about the Gala Bash that he held at the Guyana Pegasus Hotel under the guise that he was holding it for the hard working nurses of the City Council, an occasion that he used to fete his friends, cohorts and colleagues at a significant cost to the ratepayers of the city. The point that he is missing that the Deputy Mayor made was that such an event could have been held at one of facilities of the Council or the Government at a considerably lower cost but equally enjoyable to the participants. After not paying that hotel for a substantial period subsequent to the event, he, King served to bring the Council into further disrepute. But of course we all know that King has a Champagne taste whilst the Council has a “Mauby” budget.
Secondly, I can’t believe that Royston King has the gall to refer again to the odious parking meter contract. He seems not to realize that it is only the ‘Gang of Four’ and Smart City Solutions think it is a wonderful contract. The Ministry of Finance, the Attorney General’s Office, the GCCI, the PSC, TIGI, religious bodies, civil society and just about everyone else, expressed grave concern about the lack of transparency and other appalling aspects of this deal. And a deal it is. But he only jumps at the Deputy Mayor. It is of little importance whether the contract was negotiated in 1995 or 2016, what is important is that it is a terrible contract that will fill the pockets of a few whilst bringing considerable hardship on all motorists and which will eventually kill commerce in our capital.
Now about the Auditor General’s report; if things are as honky dory at City Hall as King is trying to make it appear in his letter, then why does he not get private competent, forensic auditors to examine the Council’s books from the time when rubber cheques were tendered and encashed years ago by a senior officer at a cashier at the City Treasurer’s Department and nothing was done about it, up to now. But of course King would never do that because he and Guyana knows why.
The questions I would like Mr. Duncan to ask at the next Statutory Meeting of the Council, is why Royston King refuses to proceed on his accumulated vacation leave, which has piled up over years now and which is in clear violation of the rules of the Council, the very rules he likes to quote so very much?. Is he sitting on something that would blow, the minute he is away from his desk? And when will Council’s workers receive their October salaries? In time for Christmas?
Sean Moniz

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