Chairman of the commission of inquiry into the operations of City Hall, Keith Burrowes says there is no evidence so far to substantiate findings that funds have been misused.
Burrowes told Stabroek News in an interview that it was premature to pronounce on financial issues at this point in time. He said that the ‘sample population’ used by the AG was very small and that it would have to be widened. “I’m not going in there looking for somebody stealing money,” Burrowes said. “If it comes up during our investigation that’s fine… it will be looked at.” But nothing pointing to financial discrepancies has come up so far.
Burrowes also said that it is premature to say whether Town Clerk Beulah Williams and Treasurer Roderick Edinborough would be returning to the municipality. They were both sent on leave to facilitate the inquiry into their respective departments. The inquiry, which began on September 17, was called after a report submitted to City Hall by the Auditor General (AG) had pointed to serious breaches in regulations and protocol by the administration of the municipality, particularly within the Treasurer’s Department. The terms of reference for the inquiry included looking for irregularities identified in the AG’s report in respect of the Town Clerk’s office; the office of the City Treasurer; loans to members of staff and others; advances on salaries; irregularities in relation to rates and taxes; municipal bank accounts in commercial banks; and the restructuring of municipal departments and operations. The inquiry is also required to pronounce on any culpability in relation to the town clerk and city treasurer and make recommendations to the local government minister.
According to Burrowes, widening the sample population was proving a bit difficult. In reviewing the system, the commission found that some data were not available. “We need to widen our sample population in some areas to give validity to our findings,” he said, but in some cases financial data were not readily available because there were no mechanisms to produce such data. The commission now has to put the mechanisms in place before the data they need for examination can be generated. Burrowes said that persons had been placed in a department at the city council to that end, and that this would not invole any cost to the council. The commissioner described this as a setback given the already strained time period, but it was something that had to be done in order to make a fair evaluation.
Meanwhile, Burrowes said that the inquiry was more extensive than he had anticipated and had moved beyond the points that had been identified in the AG’s report. Burrowes said this was due to the fact that the points raised in the AG’s reports were part of a larger problem at City Hall. Although he said it was premature to make any specific pronouncements, Burrowes said that so far what was coming out of the inquiry showed that the factors responsible for the current situation in the municipality included the capacity of officers, the culture which had developed, and the relationship between councillors and officers. The approach to financial management and the matter of returns on investments were other factors Burrowes identified.
Confidence and
bureaucracy
While there were no signs yet of issues political in nature, “there is very low confidence from the public perspective in the ability of the city council to deliver,” Burrowes said. He added that at the end of the inquiry there may be some correlation between that confidence and the percentage of taxes paid to the municipality. While this theory had not been properly validated as yet, it had been expressed in the hearings thus far.
Although some of the issues coming out of the hearing were not new, Burrowes said that a more profound idea of how citizens were affected was emerging. Citizens’ concerns included unregulated parking and vending and the need for zoning. There was also the issue of plastic containers and littering, which was considered not only a health problem but a hindrance to investment and the general economy.
Burrowes also said that the data currently show that City Hall’s failure to provide certain services now which had been offered in the past was not necessarily because the equipment was not available but because of the level of decision-making at the municipality. The lack of services was also linked to a deficiency in the systems. “There is bureaucracy within the council and an inability to make decisions on a timely basis and implement those decisions,” he noted. One example of such a case was the purchase of a sparkplug for a critical piece of equipment that was not done on time, leading to major flooding.
Another reason for the restricted services was the expansion of the city limits from 2 square miles in the ’80s to 15 square miles now, and this had put pressure on the municipality to deliver. However, Burrowes said this theory too needed to be validated.
Another thing that had been coming out of the hearings was the cost effectiveness of investments and consultancies over the years. The recommendations from these consultancies had not been implemented, which may be attributed to any number of reasons, the most prominent being that the resources were not available to implement them.
Burrowes said that was why he was going to be cautious about the report he compiled at the end of the inquiry. “I will be as practical… or as pragmatic as possible with the recommendations I will make,” he said.
Another public hearing is scheduled for November 26 on the third floor of City Hall.
