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Local Govt. Minister halts City Council’s amnesty programme
…City Mayor to explore legal options
Kaieteur News – Local Government Minister Anand Persaud has instructed the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to halt to its decision to grant amnesty to defaulting tax payers.
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Anand Persaud
In a letter dated October 16, 2023, the Local Government Minister asked the Council to show whether its decision is in keeping with Section 163 of Municipal and District Council Act, Chapter 28:01.
“I hereby request a copy of the financial regulations which authorizes the decision of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Georgetown made on 26 September 2023 to offer amnesty on interest accumulated on the accounts of ratepayers, and the grounds upon which such a decision is based.”
The Minister noted that the Council’s letter to him is dated 10 days after the start of the amnesty.
“This oddity aside, I hereby request that you halt this alleged amnesty forthwith while the lawfulness of this purported amnesty is interrogated,” Minister Persaud said.
In September, the M&CC announced that it will be offering ratepayers’ amnesty on their accumulated interests.
At the time, City Mayor Alfred Mentore said that the funds garnered from the amnesty would be used by the municipality to pay off income tax debts to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
In a statement issued on Monday, Mentore explained that the decision to extend amnesty to ratepayers was made by the Council at a statutory meeting late September 2023. The Council, he said, voted to offer the citizens of Georgetown a period of amnesty on interest owed in a measure to raise funds to clear PAYE debts accrued at the Guyana Revenue Authority.
“This proactive measure was agreed to after the Mayor and executive finance members met with Commissioner General Mr. Godfrey Statia after the said statutory meeting.”
Mentore said, “The PPP/C [Peoples Progressive Party Civic] administration has steadfastly refused to honour central government financial obligations to the City council and this continues to stifle the work of maintaining and rebuilding the Garden City.
“In blocking the attempts of the Council to meet its obligations to the GRA, the PPP/C are showing their true colors, this is the care they talk about; they are deliberately hampering the livelihoods, benefits, and well-being of staff and their families whom are affected by the non-payment of their PAYE,”Mentore said.
Georgetown Mayor, Alfred Mentore
The Mayor said that efforts were made to discuss and resolve “this absurd and unconscionable decision of the Honourable Minister but to no avail.” The Mayor asserted that there is “no law that speak to his overreach!”
“I would like to remind the residents and property owners of Georgetown who are now being denied the opportunity to regularize their historical issues with rates and taxes owed, of the warnings we, the APNU gave, during the recent Local Government campaign “they (the PPP/C) want to control the City Council so that they could change laws and seize your properties for outstanding taxes,” Mentore said.
The Mayor said he intends to call an emergency meeting of the Council and “present all options available for democratic discussion and decisions on the way forward including the adjudication of this matter in the High court of the Supreme Court of the judicature, if necessary.”
For years, the M&CC has been providing amnesty to ratepayers. The money received during that period is used to offset the Council’s expenses which includes the payment of wages and salaries and garbage contractors, while providing critical services to communities in the city.
- Alfred Mentore, amnesty programme, Anand Persaud, City Council, Georgetown Mayor, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development
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