Dear Editor,
Whenever one is faced with an explanation of what is going on at the Georgetown Municipality, the choice is always between incompetence, corruption and conspiracy. The latest news is that the Mayor and City Council has not had financial audits into its affairs for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.
This is, according to its Internal Auditor, in complete violation of Chapter 28:01 of the Laws of Guyana which states, “The City Council and the Town Council shall, not later than the thirty-first day of March in every year, submit to the Minister a report in writing containing an account of all monies received, expended and applied during the preceding financial year.”
Of course, this is not the most shocking, unusual or monumental of revelations coming out of City Hall as everyone in Georgetown – except maybe for the 30 city fathers and mothers sitting around the horseshoe table – is well aware of this. But the question to be asked is, what work and tasks have the Internal Auditor and the not insignificant number of staff assigned to her, done for the last three years, since, according to her, the requisite documents were never submitted to her for auditing? Has the auditor and the staff of her division just been twiddling their thumbs for the last three years whilst being well compensated?
And the next question is, what did she then do about it? Did she formally bring to the attention of the Town Clerk, the Mayor, the Minister of Communities and the Auditor General of Guyana, the existence of this indefensible and appalling state of affairs? Or is she only raising the alarm now that there is a Commission of Inquiry?
But most worrying in all of this is that during the period referred to, 2016-2018, central government has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the system, property rates and other municipal charges have risen sharply, new taxes such as the container tax have been levied upon the citizenry bringing in hundreds of millions additionally, and yet still, the Council over the last three years, has been and is always broke and bankrupt.
Citizens would like to know whether the Internal Auditor has been afforded the opportunity to audit the income and expenditure of the recently held 175th anniversary celebrations of the city. I seriously doubt it. This present City Council will never willingly allow an audit there, as all hell will break loose when one is forcibly done.
It would be interesting to know how the Internal Auditor was recruited, and whether she is competent and qualified to carry out those responsibilities effectively. Such a determination of the competencies of the other staff of the internal audit section should also be done.
The most egregious of all these goings-on, is the fact that some of the 30 councillors who sat idly by in key positions, and allowed such a travesty to occur, are now seeking to be re-elected to another three-year term with the usual pie in the sky promises. These persons are, in effect, just seeking to insult the intelligence of the citizenry.
Yours faithfully,
Jermain Johnson
