Latest update November 27th, 2024 1:00 AM
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- ExxonMobil reports ‘record September’ to shareholders as production peaks to 660,000 barrels
- Suriname to deposit royalty from oil to citizens’ bank accounts
- Israel, Hezbollah agree to ceasefire brokered by US and France, to take effect Wednesday
- Fire completely destroys KN, Bhenas Footwear warehouse leaving hundreds of millions in losses
- We must demand a referendum to end this madness.
Do we just have to accept that Georgetown will never regain its former glory?
DEAR EDITOR,
Having followed the goings-on at the Georgetown City Council for a number of years now, I am left to wonder why the senior officers there, have to be told what to do on a daily basis for routine tasks by the Councillors, the Local Government Commission and/or the Communities Ministry, who then have to stand over them to ensure that they carry out the simplest of undertakings.
In other organizations and companies in Guyana and elsewhere, the Chairman and the Board, which the Mayor and City Councillors really are, would merely be responsible for setting policy guidelines, and giving general directions. The CEO would then ascertain and establish exactly what has to be done in keeping with those decisions and in turn ensure that the heads of departments and their staff carry out their mandates accordingly. Not so at City Hall.
One reads of the City Treasurer (ag) refusing requests of the Town Clerk, City Council and the Local Government Commission to hand over some of the City’s financial records for auditing, and giving the ridiculous excuse that the records are too sensitive.
This is simply bizarre, how could the records detailing how the monies paid by ratepayers are spent, become classified? And even more troubling, is the fact that this gentleman was not even given a slap on the wrist for such obtuseness.
Why does the City Treasurer have to be told that he has to remit monies to the National Insurance Scheme, the Guyana Revenue Authority and other places by the Local Government Commission? Does he not know that he is duty and legally bound to do so?
The Engineer’s Department has plumbers, masons, carpenters, tinsmiths, painters and many other construction and engineering competencies within their employ, but rather than repairing and maintaining the majestic City Hall building which resembles a small castle, a little at a time each year, they opted to do nothing to the building but occupy it for the last three decades, watching it crumble to the ruins it has become, and await a largesse of a whopping $200 Million from some fairy godmother
Then we learnt that the fencing around Russell Square in the Stabroek Market area had disappeared, as have so many other things concerning the Council, but the real absurdity is that the Chief Constable is reported to be waiting to be instructed in writing to have his ranks investigate the disappearance of this chain link fencing that is the property of the Council. Simply preposterous!
Then just this week we found the Abattoir closed for business. The reason given was that they had no hose or water to sanitize the facility, leaving it in an unhealthy and unsanitary state. I guess they are awaiting a directive to purchase a piece of hose, replace the water heating tank and have the plumbers fix the pipelines.
Whatever happened to those Sanitary Inspectors who were given a fancy new name -Environmental Health Officers – that used to visit each yard regularly to ensure that good public health practices were maintained in the city. Does the Council have to instruct them to go back into their districts?
And what about those district gangs that kept the parapets in pristine condition using hand scythes and cutlasses many years ago and those that kept the drains clean using shovels and hoes? Today they have motorized brush cutters, mist blowers, Madvacs and excavators, and yet in most areas these municipal workers are never seen, the drains are clogged, and the grass on the parapets is taller than humans, and encourages a lot of unwanted wildlife.
With all of the robberies and burglaries occurring in and around the markets, do the relevant officers have to be instructed by the Local Government Commission to have security cameras installed and monitored at these facilities? I hope not.
Just look at what has happened to the administration, security, aesthetics and maintenance of Le Repentir Cemetery. Not so many moons ago this cemetery was well-administered by the Sexton’s office, which kept records of burials and information of the various beds, supervised the rangers who were part of the security arrangements, and kept the cemetery weeded. High grass or trees growing among the tombs was never permitted. Today the cemetery is now an international disgrace.
Do we just have to accept that Georgetown will never regain its former glory?
Sincerely,
Kishore Das
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