I had to laugh out loud

Nov 30, 2017 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I had intended that my letter in Kaieteur News of Tuesday November 21, 2017 (“City Hall continues to befuddle”) would have been my only public contribution to the discussion on the current functioning of the City Council and its officers.
In that letter, I drew attention to a glaring disparity between the amount I paid at City Hall on the first working day of this year and the amount that the Treasurer’s Office, City Hall indicated to me in a letter hand-delivered at my home on November 20, 2017, had been paid by me.
After the publication of my letter, a perfect stranger who was passing my home and who apparently had seen my letter in Kaieteur News stopped to inform me (and whoever chose to listen) that he liked my letter; and then he explained away the mystery with the words: “Sir, is thief they thief yuh money!”
I didn’t bother with him, but, armed with my 3rd January, 2017 receipt, l went to City Hall to pay whatever was deemed to be my outstanding balance for this year. You see, Editor, I did not want to be among those who could be blamed if the City Council is unable to pay its workers their wages this month-end.
The cashier charged me $34 as interest, and when I pointed to reports in the newspapers that interest payments had been waived, she explained, with great courtesy, that the waiver was only in respect of amounts exceeding $15,000. I had to laugh out loud.
You see, Editor, the minibus fare to City Hall is $80 and the minibus fare back from City Hall is $80 – making a total of $160. I should have kept my money and waited until January 2, 2018, and then made one trip and paid the arrears for 2017, the interest charged thereon, and the rate for 2018. I am sadder, but not necessarily wiser.
I went back home and then saw, with horror, the tenor and tone of a letter: “IT’S EASY TO CRITICISE” standing in the name of Debra Lewis, Public Relations Officer, Mayor and City Council.
In that letter, Ms Lewis seems to be giving Mr Carl Veecock a sound busing for what she calls “spewing all sorts of inaccuracies against the Mayor and City Council.” When Ms Lewis went on to say: “I am not sure what qualifications this gentleman has,” I wondered where she learnt to write that sort of letter disagreeing with the interpretation of events, given by someone else – probably a taxpayer.
In my letter of November 21 in Kaieteur News, I said: “And could I – again with respect – ask whether when DEM BOYS SEH uses the term “Town Clown”, he means singular or he means plural? Is his term applicable elsewhere in City Hall?”
Editor, could I please recommend a candidate for this accolade?
George N. Cave

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