Junior Minister of Local Government Norman Whittaker says that there have been noticeable positive improvements since personnel changes were made at City Hall.
“We have seen significant increase of revenue,” he said adding that there was significant increase in the repayment of arrears and the council is no longer cash-strapped. “The huge bank overdraft was reduced to zero,” he told a news conference held by the two Local Government ministers on Monday to update the media on the activities of the ministry. Additionally, the income tax PAYE and insurance for employees are being paid, he said. Workers also no longer have to be concerned about whether they will be paid or not, they are getting paid on time, he said.
Whittaker’s statements appeared to be made in defence of Town Clerk Carol Sooba, whose appointment has met with resistance by some members of the council. Whittaker said that the solid waste contractors are being paid and have not threatened to stop working as in the past. As a result, he asked how there could be complaints of being starved of revenue when all of this is happening.
He had noted that Georgetown got $1.46 billion in revenue last year and of this sum, $981 million was used to meet employment costs. A similar situation obtained in other municipalities. He said that the ministry expected more of these sums to be used to provide services to the people including in the area of drainage.
