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Clear indictment of the Town Clerk and Mayor
Dear Editor,
Please allow me a space in your newspaper to air my concerns and open a few eyes and ears. I have never written to a newspaper before as I thought my opinion would not matter, however, I have gotten inspiration from the brave men and women of the Movement Against Parking Meters.
I have done my share of research and have uncovered some damning results from the parking meter contract. As far as I can see the parking meter contract was birthed from a convoluted deal to enrich a few. According to Mayor Patricia Chase-Green they were approached by Smart City Solutions Inc. and they had discussions and signed the contract. This is against all procurement rules! They have broken the law by doing so and hence the contract between Smart City Solutions Inc. and the Mayor and City Council should be terminated as soon as possible at very least.
According to the Ministry of Finance review document Page 6 bullet point 2 General Observations states “ Government procurement requirements may have been violated in that a tender was not advertised and bids reviewed for acceptance based on certain criteria and as such justifies a revoking of the CONTRACT by Government and the re-tendering”. It is clear that the M&CC has broken the LAW!
It is clear that the Town Clerk, Royston King has over stepped his power and done more than he is and supposed to do. Allow me to explain. The Town Clerk cannot make a decision on his own without the instruction and direction of the council, according to the municipality and district council act 28:01 under Roles of Officers section 77 (1). According to agenda item number #2 of the statuary minutes Monday May 6th 2016 the Mayor Patricia Chase-Green announced that “the council will conclude the signing of the contract”. The new council (sworn in on 1st April 2016 was totally unaware about the parking meter contract). Then the next time the council heard about contract was on May 23rd 2016 the Mayor again announced that “Smart City Solutions Inc. is proceeding with the work”.
The Mayor and the Town Clerk are arguing that the previous council approved the contract in 2015. However, there is no record that this was done (Chapter 28:01 section 66 “a council shall cause the minutes be kept a record of the proceedings of all meetings”) and it goes against what the town clerk has stated previously in Kaieteur news on 17th June 2016 “the incumbent Council allowed for intense debate and deliberations on the matter, the process of selecting the proposals was both transparent and fair”.
If this was the case why has the Town Clerk stated that this contract was approved by the old council? The records do not show that the old council approved this contract or instructed the Town Clerk to do so. The decision appears to have been taken by the mayor and town clerk who have broken most laws in this contract fiasco thus far. There is no evidence that the town clerk was given an instruction by the council to enter into the contract with Smart City Solution Inc.!!! As I stated earlier there is no evidence from the statuary minutes that the town clerk was given any instruction to sign a contract!
This is a massive indictment against the Town Clerk and Mayor and whoever else is involved. I am demanding as a citizen of this country that pays taxes and has supported this change to SUSPEND the entire parking meter project and launch a massive investigation/ probe into these obvious offences against the Guyanese people.
Please set up a commission with civil society, Ministry of Finance experts, Independent auditors, Coalition members and Opposition members to lead the probe. This is of national interest and I am awaiting the response of the Government to see how they react to these clear law breakers. This was a government that was put into power on the back of transparency and accountability please don’t let your die hard supporters down!! It will determine how I vote again and who I campaign with in the very near future.
John Marks Jr.
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