Carol Sooba, who has been appointed by the Local Government Ministry to act as the Georgetown municipality’s Town Clerk, is rejecting criticism by members of the City Council and staff of City Hall of her appointment, including the claim that she is unqualified to hold the post.
“I have to reject them but I am not going to justify myself to anybody,” Sooba said during a brief telephone interview with Stabroek News.
Her appointment last week was met with a protest from the Guyana Local Govern-ment Officers Union (GLGOU), which said that she was not qualified.
The acting Town Clerk said that those who have been attacking her in various sections of the media have their own turf to protect and further described the Mayor and City Council’s spokesperson, Royston King, who was the council’s choice to act as Town Clerk, as someone who “can’t stand in my shoes.”
King was initially selected by the council to act as Town Clerk in the absence of substantive office-holder Yonette Pluck-Cort, who is among officers on leave to facilitate a police investigation of City Hall’s operations. However, the Ministry subsequently notified of its decision to appoint Sooba, which infuriated councillors, including Chairman of the Markets and Public Health committees Ranwell Jordan, who said Sooba was not qualified enough to hold the post.
However, Sooba told this newspaper that she has 22 years of legal experience working at the Deeds Registry and as a Clerk at the Magistrate’s Court. She said that currently, she is about to complete a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree programme. “I am a marketable person,” Sooba stated, adding that she is also a Justice of the Peace (JP) and a Commissioner to Oaths and Affidavits. “I have a wealth of experience… I have an unblemished record here,” she added.
Five other City Hall officials—City Treasurer Andrew Meredith, City Engineer Gregory Erskine, Deputy Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Munroe, Director of Solid Waste Management Hubert Urlin and the Personnel Officer Paulette Braithwaite, were sent on leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the city’s operations. Their temporary replacements are said to be working. However, this newspaper understands that it has been suggested that persons work along with them to assist them.
Ron McCalmon is temporarily replacing Meredith; Lloyd Alleyne, Erskine’s deputy, is acting in the post of City Engineer; Michelle Smith is the acting Personnel Officer; Surujpaul is Director of Solid Waste Management; and Valerie Clarke-Chichester, the assistant Deputy Town Clerk, will remain acting in that capacity.
