Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Republic Bank’s computer glitch hampers City Hall’s financial operation – Treasurer claims
City Treasurer John Douglas is blaming his failure to submit monthly financial reports on time, on the computer glitch at Republic Bank.
City Treasurer, John Douglas
Douglas addressed a meeting of the Georgetown Mayor and City Councillors (M&CC) yesterday after queries were made about the delays in submitting the financial report.
The issue was raised by Town Clerk (ag) Sherry Jerrick. Jerrick told the Council that Douglas should be made to respond given his apparent refusal to correspond with her privately on the matter.
Jerrick said that “I am kindly asking the City Treasurer to respond to the Council because I’ve written officers and asked that the monthly reports be submitted at a certain time, but the City Treasurer is the only person who has been opposing my instructions and has not been submitting his reports within the time frame.”
Former Mayor Patricia Chase-Green suggested the treasurer’s refusal to comply is a breach of the law and regulations of the Council. Chase-Green noted that “in accordance with Chapter 28:01, the treasurer is answerable to the Town Clerk who is head of the city administration.”
“So why I am not hearing of any sanctions?” “Is the treasurer higher than the Town Clerk I don’t know?”
Mayor Narine weighed in. He noted that the question which should be asked is whether the city’s bank statements are up-to-date.
Jerrick in turn told the council that she had instructed the treasurer both verbally and in writing, to inform Republic Bank of the difficulty the council encounters when the statements are not up-to-date.
She said, however, that she received no correspondence to the effect that the treasurer has complied with her instructions.
“So I can’t be certain that the Bank is to be blamed. If the bank is providing your correspondence late, you have a right to visit the office and uplift the statement for yourself.”
The city treasurer nonetheless maintained there was back and forth communication between himself and the town clerk about the difficulties encountered with the bank.
He noted that it is no secret that a certain banking institution had a change in the IT system. Douglas said that due to the introduction of the new system, the bank had been experiencing some challenges.
“As a result of that change, it’s having some structural challenges in supplying costumers with the same level of service it once did.”
He explained why the report is coming late.
“If you check my report for December, you will see a notice that I don’t have a bank statement for December, and I received the November statement late. I received a memorandum from the Town Clerk that she would like all reports by the 15th of the month. I don’t have a problem with that, but from time to time, situations may arise and cause delays. I even provided a correspondence about the holdup we have, because of the statements arriving late.
He noted that in the absence of the statement he cannot produce a report.
“Sometimes, the statements are received on the 13th and 14th of the month, that is unreasonable time to ask the staff to produce the work in time for the deadline…”
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