Dear Editor,
Over the last few days, the Public Relations Unit of the city council has received numerous calls from various stakeholders on the event that occurred at City Hall, on Tuesday, September 16. As a result, we feel obliged to simply state the facts about this occurrence; citizens are free to come to their own conclusions.
Last Tuesday, the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown called a special public meeting for prayers and solidarity, and to bring citizens up to date with the goings-on at the council. Part of that meeting was dedicated to muster support for the call for local government elections. The Mayor sought and obtained permission from the police to use a public address system and stakeholders were invited. Religious leaders were invited to say prayers and others agreed to speak at the session.
Surprisingly, before the official work time, the gates at City Hall were closed, barred and manned by officers and ranks of the constabulary. Officials and staff of the council were allowed in but other citizens were not permitted to enter the precincts of City Hall. Obviously, those who had gathered at the gates were shocked and upset that they could not enter the compound to participate in a meeting to which they were invited by the Mayor.
It should be noted that, the Chief Constable – the head of the constabulary – has reporting responsibility to the council through the Clerk. Matters of security are discussed with great particularity at the Legal Affairs and Security Committee of the council. That committee makes recommendations to full council, where at its statutory meetings the Mayor is the chair on all matters affecting the constabulary.
However, the Mayor along with other City Councillors attempted to persuade those who had secured the gates to allow citizens to be part of that meeting but to no avail.
The Mayor, councillors and a few members of parliament, stood at the southern section of the compound, just under the Mayor’s office while citizens were forced to stand outside the city gates, on the northern side, on the pavement with members of the city police interposed between the people and their representatives.
During that meeting, Ms Carol Sooba, apparently deciding that it was time for her to be visible to the small crowd came down from her office and strutted across the forecourt of the compound going in and out of different offices.
Stepping back from it all and looking at it from a different perspective, this action by the administration has far reaching consequences not only for the council but also for citizens and the integrity of their local communities. This is a very urgent issue because it affects the very essence of democracy and the good governance of our capital city. The question is who is in charge of the City of Georgetown?
Also, when we think of the core mission of the council, ie, serving the citizens, advancing the nation, we could easily see the unreasonableness of that action to lock citizens out of City Hall.
Again, it has to be said that the action to lock the gates in the face of stakeholders, was not only unprecedented but also reflected the real position of citizens, in so far as their participation in the management of their local communities and the city are concerned; they are left outside of the decision-making process and are forced to accept the way their neighbourhoods are managed. This facilitates a deep sense of lack of ownership on the part of citizens, of any effort by the municipality to improve conditions in communities. This affects the health and welfare of the city.
It seems as though the power to act on behalf of citizens at the local level in the city has been usurped by others, and Georgetown is in the throes of all kinds of challenges which are impacting negatively on the development of our capital.
It is hard to understand how any local government officer could lock out stakeholders from a public meeting called by the Mayor and Councillors – the people’s representatives. It was the height of lawlessness. It could not be accepted or tolerated. Not in a democratic society. No excuse or reason could be given for such a strange move. Not one citizen should have been locked outside and prevented from attending a meeting to which they were invited by the Mayor, who is the Chairman of the Council. It was said that, there might have been troublemakers in the crowd and that there were “elements” there. Even if that were the case, there are other ways to manage such persons.
Even if there was a problem with communication between the mayoralty and administration, as was suggested by one officer, citizens should not have suffered for it. Since then the Mayor has written the Chief Constable, whose portfolio includes the substantial responsibility of the security of the city, for an explanation for that action.
We at the council applaud those who attended and for their diligence in listening to the various speakers. We believe that citizens not only should have a right to participate in such meetings in an appropriate way but, more importantly, have much to contribute to the municipality through the information and resources they have available.
Finally, the solution isn’t to bar citizens from engaging and participating in meetings of their council, particularly in circumstances where almost all the systems to provide vital municipal services have been retarded by all sorts of managerial and other problems. Part of any solution to save the city has to be the active participation of all citizens in decisions on the governance and management of their local areas.
The Mayor has already met with certain stakeholders to plan for another such meeting at City Hall.
Yours faithfully,
Royston King
Mayor and Councillors
City of Georgetown