Dear Editor,
It seems as though the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown has decided to discontinue a rather insipid weekly television programme that was titled ‘Georgetown on the move.’
Such a decision would make a lot of sense as the programme was not only dull and senseless, but a waste of money and time. It was clearly a feeble attempt at political propaganda and an attempt to divert attention from the mismanagement, corruption and unlawful activities ongoing at the Council.
However, one would have hoped that the programme would have morphed from ‘Georgetown on the move’ to ‘Georgetown City Councillors on the Move Overseas’.
Surely the municipal employees who have to wait for weeks after the official pay date to receive their salaries, and the citizens whose garbage is overflowing without being picked up, those who have to pay increased property rates, and those without proper roads, street lights and good drainage would be thrilled to be updated weekly about the travels of the King and Queen of the city and their large entourages.
We would like to know how much of the property owners’ money is spent on each trip for air fares, hotel accommodation, meal allowances and out of pocket allowances, what benefits the citizens and the city council accrue from these trips, what deals are struck and what goods are procured and brought back.
Citizens would like to know if this globetrotting Mayor, Councillors and Town Clerk are negotiating international security deals to make Georgetown a safer city, trade partnerships to improve opportunities for the business sector of our capital, and climate agreements. Does Georgetown have its own foreign policy separate and apart from the national one?
Citizens would like to know why the Mayor of Georgetown and her cabal are travelling more than the Mayors of Tokyo, New York and Paris—those which incidentally have higher concentrations of global organizations, businesses, and educational and cultural institutions in their cities.
Cities worldwide have been forming their own associations and networks to enable collaboration on issues such as the environment, transport, energy efficiency, and economic development, but for all the travel being undertaken by the Fantastic Four here and others, we do not see Georgetown being a part of those or anything for that matter, or are they just joyriding around the world on the backs of the poor citizens.
Yours faithfully,
Magagula Jackson
