Dear Editor,
My attention was drawn to a report headlined ‘Sooba asks to stay until Town Clerk appointed,’ appearing on pages 3 and 13 of Stabroek News, April 24.
While I am unsure of the identity of the provider of the information set out in the report, I do know that its content is inaccurate since I was present during the very meeting to which the report refers. And moreover, I was the convener of the meeting and presided over it. Other persons present included the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, the Personal Assistant to the Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor of the Georgetown municipality and the Town Clerk of the Georgetown municipality.
The primary issue addressed during the meeting was the Mayor’s request by way of letter dated April 18, 2013 addressed to the Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development “for the removal of Town Clerk (ag) Ms Carol Ryan Sooba” for reasons which were ventilated during the meeting and which are contained in a letter penned by the Mayor to the Minister in a letter dated April 15, 2013.
And while the language and tone of the Town Clerk’s response to the Mayor’s letter was the subject of much discourse, and the Minister did express concern that the work relationship that existed between the head of the council and the chief executive officer of the council was affecting the delivery of services to the citizenry of the municipality, he did share his opinion on the way forward. And that way forward included the Town Clerk’s withdrawal of her memorandum of April 12 addressed to the Mayor in response to his memorandum of the said date requesting that the Town Clerk convene a “Meeting with all members of staff.”
Be informed that at no time during that meeting did the Town Clerk ask “the Mayor and Councillors of Georgetown to continue working until the appointment of a new Town Clerk.” Indeed, the Minister had very early in the discourse pointed out to the meeting that measures were being put in place to have all the applicants for the four senior vacant positions within the Georgetown municipality interviewed with a view to filling these positions, and that included the position of Town Clerk.
Issues of trust and confidence on the two sides were also ventilated. The inaccurate information presented in the Stabroek News report and which could only have emanated from a participant at the meeting makes it obvious that we are still some way away from addressing the proximate cause of the problems at City Hall. We at the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development would nevertheless continue to engage all parties as we work to eliminate the woes of the city.
Yours faithfully,
Norman Whittaker
Minister within the
Ministry of Local
Government & Regional Development
