Govt says goodbye to Hamilton Green, 82

Feb 03, 2017 News

…he will not be on new CH&PA’s board

Former City mayor, Hamilton Green, will not be returned as Chairman of the Central Housing

Hamilton Green

and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
He was appointed to head that Board of Directors last year but there have been questions whether he could handle the heavy demands of one of the most critical State entities, given his age.
Yesterday, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, disclosed that the life of CH&PA’s board came to an end last year and a new one will be announced shortly.
He gave the “assurance” that Green will not be coming back as chairman.
The decision not to go back with Green, a former Prime Minister, and City mayor until last year, will come at a time when the administration has been under pressure to explain its stance on the retiring of a people from some prominent positions. Two such persons are Jusitce Cecil Kennard and Justice Prem Persaud.
According to the minister, government had at the end of last year conducted a review of all State boards and commissions. They are both over 80.
Attention has been paid to the ones that especially affect lives and livelihood in particular, including CH&PA. CH&PA would be of great concern to the administration.
Housing had been one of the biggest movers of the economy until three years ago when lands ran out in the high-demand East Demerara area.
There are more than 20,000 applications for turn-key homes and house lots on CH&PA’s files.
The former CH&PA’s board itself has been battling to overcome deep-rooted allegations of corruption at the entity with the battle on to find new lands.
The entity has announced plans to build condos, apartment buildings and duplexes to deal with the demands.
However, CH&PA has also been under fire for doing little to repossess hundreds of acres of lands on East Bank Demerara which had been sold under questionable circumstances to private developers.
A number of staffers in the finance section and engineering department have resigned or were fired.
CH&PA has been handling billions of dollars annually to push development of new housing schemes.
According to Minister Harmon, the issue of the retirees will be addressed when government shortly announces its policy.
He acknowledged that there is a debate but said that Guyana has to take a chance on its young generation.
He said that the challenge will be to strike a balance where efficiency and age are concerned.
The official was, however, quick to point out that the administration does not see age as a deterrent but rather believe that those who are competent should be given a chance in government service.
“It is no disrespect or no disregard to the work that is being done by these persons but we do believe that we have to also create upward mobility for (younger) persons who are in the system,” the minister added.
Recently, Government announced that President David Granger has agreed to end the tenure of former Chancellor, Justice Cecil Kennard, as Chairperson of the Police Complaints Authority.
Age was cited as a factor. Kennard is over 80 years old.