The Mayor and Councillors of Georgetown yesterday voted to reopen a bank account for the City’s Social Development Committee so that staff and other community members can have access to small loans outside the “bureaucracy of the treasurer’s department”.
As yesterday’s statutory meeting began, Mayor Ubraj Narine enquired of Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Monroe why the committee was without an account. Harry-Monroe indicated that a “previous audit” found that the council had too many bank accounts and recommended that the committee’s account be closed.
Former Mayor Patricia Chase-Green disagreed with the statement and claimed that it was the Town Clerk Carol Sooba who came to this conclusion and closed the account “without good reason”
She argued that the account existed under two Town Clerks before Sooba and was in no way problematic and recommended that it be reinstated to facilitate community work.
People’s Progressive Party/Civic Councillor Bishram Kuppen attempted to argue that the position of “too many accounts” was a good enough reason especially as council has been subject to questions about accountability and transparency however the majority of the councillors present disagreed with his assessment.
“That account should include revenue from things like carnival and be there to give back to communities. Many times workers at City Hall come to my office for an emergency loan and [because of] the time it takes the emergency come and gone before they get the money,” Mayor Narine explained adding that with this account there will be a “faster process to deal with these issues” even as a report on the income and expenditure is submitted to council for verification by councillors.
“I recommend that account be re-opened and if we have to move a motion to do that then let’s do it,” he stressed. Councillor Heston Bostwick duly stood to recommend that the account be reopened with immediate effect. The motion was seconded by Councillor Shonnel Smith-Daniels and passed with 11 votes in favour. Five councillors voted against the proposal. There were no abstentions.
