The City Council will cost the APNU+AFC at the next general election

Jun 14, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Mr. President you should know that there are several reasons why the City Council will have a great impact on the general elections comes 2020 because of its blatant poor resource management, miss appropriations of municipal funds, endorsement of nepotism that produce poor urban services. Its cries of resources limitations have forged projects with poor data analysis, interpretation and implementation that cause severe discomfort to citizens of Georgetown and the President himself.
Let me begin with the Mayor-Patricia Chase Greene. This mayor has openly said she has called for several forensic audits of the municipal council before and after the elections but to date she has never made any effort of actually bringing in the auditors since it will embarrass her.
It is alleged her sons have received large contracts from a municipal council that is not only cash strap but strap to pay its workers monthly. Her sons received contracts from purely selectively bidding as against an open procurement process where everyone has a chance to bid all because being the mayor. It is alleged that one contract for merely weeding some parapets has amounted to millions in dollars.
The Mayor brought a parking meter contract to the country and thrust it upon the people of Georgetown without adequate transport analysis and interpretation, clearly creating an embarrassment to the engineering department staff which lack a command of engineering science, beginning with the city engineer. In fact Mr. President it was required by one of your ministers to ban all metered systems being erected on selective main roads to ease the financial burdens on the citizens of Georgetown. It is also alleged the mayor wanted her personal friends be employed without again an open application process to adjudge the best and most suitable candidate.
I now ask you Mr. President is this the kind of representative you want for your party since the AFC has openly severe any communication and relationship with her. I hope come 2019 during the next local government elections your party distances itself from her since there are already several members in the PNC anticipating her graceful departure.
The Town Clerk which should be a sacred seat has seen the selection for the position by your government as a disaster and a grave mistake which is now being echoed by several members of your party. This town clerk pontificates on ethical practices but defies your minister, the subject minister for local government organs by publicly and disdainfully rejecting the call for a halt of the parking meter project and yet still remain as the town clerk of Georgetown.
Linden’s Town Clerk did little but was fired so why he still remains in the seat of the town clerk? In fact his track record has proven to be terrible many years ago. Not only has he rejected duties given to him by his superiors in the past he also did that under the previous Town Clerk, Carol Sooba; his actions were trumpeted by the current mayor and some sections of the old guards in council publicly.
It is alleged that he had never submitted a report for his department during those periods of Sooba’s rule intentionally stymieing the work of the council for which this was championed again by the current mayor with the excuse that Sooba was unqualified. He removed several vendors across Georgetown without any adequate plan on the relocation process only to cause severe financial and social disruption to their daily lives all in the name of a green city.
Several contracts also were inked by him without the adequate procurement process being adhered clearly wasting tax payers’ monies. Recently in the Sunday Kaieture News dated June 11, 2017, the news item stood out boldly that the town clerk was renting toilets for his premise; a total embarrassment to the council. I am certain under any other government, Royston King would have been given the marching booths without a formal letter. So I ask the question; why is he untouchable even though Minister Bulkan clearly indicated in a letter to the editor that he the town clerk is a “Servant of the Council” and the minister’s office.
Some officers have faced disciplinary actions for non-cooperation to the city engineer which that department should solely focus on improving urban services. Why your government does not send in a team to investigate this claim to get to the bottom of it. There are also allegations of the city engineer granting approval to building plans without the necessary financial fees. This is clearly a loss of revenue to the council that is already cash strapped.
Why the mayor does not call for a forensic audit on the works of the engineer’s department specifically the city engineer “colvern” venture. It is alleged the city engineer’s “colvern” venture was blasted several times. He was also considered as the most uninspiring undergraduate engineer from the University of Guyana by his colleagues based on his academic output. So why was he even considered for the position?
I now ask you Mr. President with all the forensic audits being meted out to several government agencies, institutions and functionaries, why is the city council being ignored. Freddie Kissoon will be proven correct when he wrote in one of his columns that these political figures and functionaries will bring great rejection to the overall polls for your government come 2020 since the district of (Georgetown) has always increased your chances of victory.
Terrell Waveney Roberts

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