Ramon Gaskin has been appointed head of the Implementation Com-mittee for the reform of the Georgetown Municipality and will be moving to breathe life into the recommendations of the Commis-sioner of Inquiry headed by Keith Burrowes more than two years ago.
Stabroek News has seen a letter signed by Minister within the Ministry of Local Government Norman Whittaker dated March 9, 2012 which shows that Gaskin was appointed to head up the body and with two persons to assist him.
Burrowes up to some months ago had been the head of the Implementation Committee, after the Commission of Inquiry had made a series of recommendations for the municipality with regard to operational efficiency and accountability.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Gaskin said that he and the others appointed will be commencing their work this week. He did not disclose how long the work of the committee is intended to last.
“Burrowes made his report and recommendations and we will see how we could implement them starting this week,” he said.
Stabroek News understands that since the end of the Commission’s work, the Implementation Com-mittee has been working to put those recommendations into practice. But the momentum has slowed for a number of reasons, this newspaper has learnt.
Through the Commission’s recommendations, it was envisaged that the Council would eventually sanitise current records so as to have more accurate information.
It was also envisaged that in the event of litigation with clients, the Council will have a stronger case before the courts because of the integrity of the information.
The Council through the Commissioner of Inquiry received a client database, at no cost to the Council, to allow the Council to view all the information regarding a client and his or her activities with the Council.
Debt recovery was one of the Implementation Committee’s biggest mandates for the Council as collecting debt owed to it was critical to its sustainability.
By the end of the process, the Council is expected to be able to look at properties that have been disposed of or that have changed hands and ascertaining whether or not the requisite compliance fees have been paid.
In his recommendations to the Council, the Commissioner had said that it was necessary for the Council to strengthen what they are doing now before looking into other areas of revenue collection.
In 2008, then Minister of Local Government Kellawan Lall set up the Commission of Inquiry to investigate the state of affairs at City Hall.
A press release from the ministry had said that the inquiry would be carried out under seven terms of reference: to peruse the Auditor General’s report on the municipality for 2007; to obtain the assistance of knowledgeable persons in conducting the inquiry and to look for irregularities identified in the AG’s report as relates to the town clerk’s office, the office of the City Treasurer, loans to members of staff and others, advances on salaries, irregularities in rates and taxes, municipal bank accounts in commercial banks and restructuring municipal departments and operations.
The Minister then appointed Burrowes, an economist, sole Commissioner, assisted by an eight-member team.
It was set up after the Auditor General submitted a report on the M&CC.
That report revealed serious breaches in regulations and protocols by the administration of the municipality, particularly within the City Treasurer’s Department.
