Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
Councillors mull removal of Royston King as Town Clerk …following “a series of missteps”
Town Clerk Royston King
There are plans to have Royston King removed as Town Clerk of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council in the coming weeks after “a series of missteps”.
Councillors from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) are reviewing their options, including a no confidence motion to be moved at an upcoming council meeting.
Former Deputy Mayor and AFC councillor, Sherod Duncan said there is a crisis of leadership at the council which has caused great embarrassment to the coalition Government.
“There have been a series of missteps by the Town Clerk which have caused tremendous embarrassment to the Council,” Duncan told Kaieteur News.
He expressed belief in government to understand the urgency of the moment, noting the recent fiasco surrounding the Farnum and Bel Air playgrounds.
“Coupled with the issues like the odious parking meter contract and the intervention of central government on several fronts, to do damage control, the situation has become untenable. He (King) has to go. The Town Clerk has disqualified himself, by his own actions, from playing any meaningful role in the city going forward. We must act,” Duncan stated.
Earlier this month, Deputy Mayor Lionel Jaikaran warned that King’s pursuit of legal action in the Bel Air playground matter is without the approval of the M&CC.
M&CC approached the Court in a bid to have a ruling by Justice Gino Persaud, pertaining to a plot of community land located at Bel Air Park, Georgetown, set aside.
“News of the Town Clerk’s continuation of the court action stopping the city council’s attempt to appropriate the Bel Air Park playground has come as a complete surprise to me, there being no consultation or vote by the council on this matter,” Jaikaran had explained.
The land at the centre of the contention is located along Eping Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown, and was earmarked as a community playground. According to court documents, the Council had intended to sell or lease reserved community lands to a private developer.
Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, has condemned the attempts by the M&CC to convert the Bel Air Park playfield into a space for residential use.
AUDIT NEEDED
Duncan opined that there is a dire need for an independent, complete financial audit of City Hall.
He said that information indicates that Councillors elected in 2016 inherited $180 million in the city’s coffers, but since that time, even with numerous financial injections from Central Government, City Hall records billion- dollar debts, currently with no end in sight.
Duncan cited the Auditor General’s Report to the National Assembly on the spending of funds for the Georgetown Restoration Programme. He stated that it left little to be desired of the Council’s financial and accounting system.
“With the $200 million earmarked for the city in the 2018 Budget, I am not confident the people of our beloved city will feel the full benefit, if we put new wine in old wine skins,” Duncan pointed out.
He further stressed the need for the Council to know its financial position, in order to determine where the city should be heading.
There are growing concerns over the lack of proper management and accountability of finances by the M&CC.
Councillor Ron Persaud recently wrote to Mayor Patricia Chase-Green expressing concern about the financial situation of the Council. He told the mayor that during consideration of the 2018 estimates, there was difficulty in obtaining information in a timely and transparent manner.
Several council members are uneasy about the liabilities of nearly $3B as of December 31, 2017
With Local Government Elections (LGE) slated for this year, there is an expectation that councillors will be keeping a closer eye on the management of the city’s affairs, as many of them will be seeking re-election.
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