Dear Editor,
According to a (GINA) release President Bharrat Jagdeo, referring to the City Enhancement exercises, said inter alia, “we are trying to clean up the mess in this country that has been left unattended by the City Council for a very, very long time.”
The emphasis of a very, very long time must be significant.
We should all show the greatest respect to our Head of State, no matter who he or she may be. Indeed, I maintain protocol and therefore show the greatest respect to the holder of the highest constitutional office in the land. However, faced with a slew of anti-City Council remarks, I am duty bound and owe it to citizens and taxpayers to respond to any statement which is deceitful and unjust.
Very briefly, this is the situation.
Aware of a plan to discredit the Mayor and City Council, I published in early January, a full page advertisement setting the record straight for the benefit of the public. Of course, the State controlled Daily Chronicle newspaper refused to publish the article. Stabroek News and Kaieteur News did.
How can Mr Jagdeo refer to our failure, when it is his Minister who has failed to deal with the whole question of proper management and the mobilization of money. Our outmoded laws give all of the authority over the Municipality to the Minister, not the Mayor. Earlier, Mayors were allowed much flexibility in dealing with staff, etc., not so since 1994. This is aggravated by the Government’s failure to appoint a Local Government Service Commission for all these years.
It is no secret the City has been starved of funds and flexibility to get things done. If this Mayor were given the opportunity, all the fuss and flurry we see today would have been unnecessary.
The plan or is it the play is clear, create conditions to make the Mayor and City Council look bad, next, we the Royal Master must intervene to set things right.
May I add, in spite of this, thanks to a small band of committed officers, we have been doing quite a good job, given all of the constraints.
But what is this very, very long time all about? Even if conditions warranted this statement, we at City Hall are certainly not alone, when it comes to negligence. I take but one example in the City. We have been for a very, very long time, the only capital city in the world, where for most of the time, none of our traffic lights worked. Traffic lights are the sole responsibility of the President and his Government, not the City Council. I have for years drawn the traffic lights situation to the attention of the several Ministers of Home Affairs.
Indeed, I referred to the government an offer by a local technician to fix the lights, I suppose he was of the wrong ilk and was apparently ignored.
We must thank and shower praises on the Indian Government for coming to our rescue on the eve of World Cup. Before referring to the City Council in derogatory terms, a straightforward answer to my statement should be given so that the public can judge. Is it true that the Government has denied every proposal for the Georgetown Mayor and City Council to raise money for doing works? Have they failed to deal with the number of complaints?
His Excellency would like us to ‘reawaken’ our sense of national pride. I add, to reawaken the sense of justice and morality. The City bashing is simply because the citizens rejected the PPP at the last municipal elections.
I’ve stated publicly, my desire is to work with the Government and all agencies to secure the integrity of the city and state, but I will not accept meekly this assault on democracy, sharing and refusal to accept the concept of local government and good governance.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green, J.P.
Mayor