The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the operations of City Hall yesterday heard that over the years respective Town Clerks have had to prioritise either paying workers, or implementing community development projects.
Current president of the Guyana Local Government Officers’ Union (GLGOU) and Former Chief Health Education Officer of the City, Wendy DeCunha testified to the commission that Town Clerk Royston King has indicated outright that he prioritises community projects over paying salaries.
“In November, 2017, we took industrial action against the administration for late payment of salaries, among other things, [and] a meeting was held with the administration on November 15th during which the words of the Town Clerk were, ‘yes I know I have to pay the workers but I also have to look after the community and do community projects; one has to make way for the other’,” DeCunha told the CoI.
She contrasted King’s attitude with that of his predecessor, Carol Sooba, during whose tenure, “payments were early and on time but generally not many community projects were being dealt with.”
DeCunha, who served in various capacities at City Hall from 1985 to 2017, noted that of the six Town Clerks she served under, Prince Melvin was the most efficient, with each of the others not managing the council’s resources appropriately.
She stressed that as a Trade Unionist, she has found the performance of the current Town Clerk to be unsatisfactory.
“The welfare and wellbeing of workers are not being taken into consideration. Late payment has been happening in the municipality for quite a number of years generally…especially coming down to the latter part of the year. We were paid early in 2015 but late payments started again in 2016,” she said. The woman added that mismanagement of the council’s finances is the cause of the late payments.
DeCunha stressed that for the first six months of every year, the city council has an excess of monies since a lot of revenue comes in, in the first half of every year. She believes that if the council were to properly manage this influx, they can survive for the rest of the year.
She laid some of the blame for this at the feet of Treasurer Ron McCalmon, noting that he and several predecessors have failed to properly account for the council’s revenue.
DeCunha spoke highly of Mark Benn, whom she said, resigned as Treasurer a number of years ago. “He was the most efficient and a man with morals and principle. I remember him saying that if he wants to see Jesus, he will have to leave this job,” she shared.
DeCunha also took aim at the Human Resources Department, which, she said, is understaffed and functioning poorly.
She reiterated complaints made by several other workers who have appeared before the CoI that staff are made to act for years without being appointed, while many retired workers are treated shoddily when they try to access their benefits.
Additionally, in a clear violation of International Labour Organization (ILO) guidelines, union representative are not invited to sit in on disciplinary hearings, and several of these meeting are aborted when union representatives accompany workers.
She noted that while the relationship between the union and City Hall was generally good in 2015, it deteriorated during 2016 and has been confrontational over the last year and a half.
