Latest update December 16th, 2024 9:00 AM
Jun 13, 2023 Letters
Dear Editor,
There are interesting letters written by Hon. Minister responsible for Finance, Ashni Singh and Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall and one by Ravi Dev. All assailing and attempting to debunk a letter written by His Worship the Mayor, Ubraj Narine, referring to the PPP’s deliberate (my words) suffocation of City Hall.
Briefly, the Minister of Finance quotes the many millions spent on roads, bridges, etc. blissfully, ignoring the fundamentals of decency and what we understand to be a democracy. $1.6 Billion dollars to enhance work along Independence Boulevard, cemetery Road, internal roads and Albouystown. Wow!
For the purposes of this letter, I will not, Dear Editor, question how these millions and billions were spent, whether there was an appropriate process of tendering, who were the successful Contractors, who received the bulk of these billions referred to in the Hon. Minister’s letter. Both the Minister of Local Government and Ravi Dev seem to have their own version of our history and the genesis of the racial conditions which have been a blithe to the people of our country.
I reminded one friend of mine who expressed a concern about my response to Minister Waldrond’s version of our history. Unlike those who speak second-hand or from documents prepared by persons who have their own agenda, I was present and privy at many of these events and thank God, whatever disabilities the aging process has brought on me, my memory and recollection of those events are in pretty good shape.
I shall conclude by bringing to the attention of the enthusiastic writings of the two Ministers and Ravi Dev, that notwithstanding the laws and the Fiscal Transfer Act that the gravamen is that you cannot criticize the persona of the Mayor and Councillors. When from the time I was elected Mayor, the PPP had sought to control as they did and now the Chief Executive Officer at City Hall (that is the Town Clerk) appointed by the Minister so that if as it is alleged the M&CC fails to account for monies spent or to submit financial Statements that is the responsibility of the Town Clerk as head of the administration.
That Town Clerk, from my own personal experiences can and in more often than not ignore the request and decisions of the Mayor and City Council, and sees themselves only responsible to the wishes and machinations of the PPP administration through the two Ministries in particular, Finance and Local Government. So using the well-oiled and heavily funded propaganda machine, tie the hands and feet of the Mayor and City Councillor, throw you overboard in shark-infested waters and then come along with their resources, cameras, etc. and proclaim to the world that they saved you. This in essence is the trick that has been played on Georgetown and other Municipalities where the PPP has not by regular means been able to secure dominance and control.
With this bounty of money, one would have thought that a caring government would promote goodwill instead of ill will. I recall my favorite, the Prophet Khalil Gibran, “ Pity the Nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful. Pity the Nation that despises a passion in its dream, yet submits in its awakening.” Pity the Nation whose Statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of catching and mimicking.”
Hamilton Green
Elder
Dec 16, 2024
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