Dear Editor,
I was appalled to read recently a letter authored by Mr. Royston King who styles himself as the Public Rela-tions Officer of the Mayor & City Council of Georgetown, in which he unleashed a rambling criticism and rebuke of the Honourable Mayor of our capital city.
Guyana has had the distinction of being the first for a number of noteworthy events, but clearly on this occasion Georgetown must have the notoriety of being the first city in which its highest elected official (the Mayor) is publicly reviled and berated by an officer who is in the employ of the very municipality for which the Mayor is the head, and is allowed to continue his employment as though he is guilty of no transgression.
All over the world, it is conventional for politicians and elected officials to express their concerns and or disapproval of the work being done or the lack of performance of bureaucrats and civil servants under their charge or who are paid to provide a service to their constituents. I see this done by Presidents, Prime Ministers, Mayors and other elected representatives all over the world. In fact, our own President thankfully has been forthright in condemning deficient public officials and substandard work whenever he sees it. So I could see nothing wrong with the Mayor drawing attention to the inadequacies of his municipality and the deficiencies of his officers, all of which incidentally are well known to all and sundry.
However, in any decent society, King would have done the honourable thing and tendered his resignation at the same time that he submitted his disparaging missive to the media, as he would have known that he would have been given the pink slip anyway. This state of affairs lends credence to the claim by the Mayor that these impudent officers are provided protection from reprimand.
As a taxpaying citizen, I call on whoever is in authority, whether it is the Minister of Local Government or the Council itself, to take stern action against this impertinent officer, before a precedent is established whereby every Tom, Dick and Harry feels empowered to bring into disrepute the highest offices of our city and country.
Yours faithfully,
Percival Haynes
