Dear Editor,
Reference is made to your article titled, ‘Linden Mayor, Town Clerk in tussle over duties,’ in the June 1 edition.
I cannot help but feel some sympathy towards the plight of the elected Mayor, Mr Carwyn Holland and his fellow councillors. Over the past few months I’ve been sounding the alarm over the inadequacies, ambivalences and impracticality of the current local government arrangement. On one occasion, the Minister of Communities Mr Ronald Bulkan responded that the town clerks are servants of the council and not masters. In the case of Linden, this does not seem to be the case. Since the Local Government Commission has not been established and in the absence of sensible legislation empowering the Mayor and Councillors to dismiss or reprimand the Town Clerk, I call on Minister Bulkan to intervene in Linden and remind the Town Clerk of her role based on his professed philosophy of the office-holder being a servant.
In closing, I take this opportunity to repeat the call for constitutional, and other legislative reform, to include the local government system.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Urling
