The Corriverton Town Council at its last statutory meeting took a decision to send the council’s treasurer, Ronita Griffith, on administrative leave.
According to a statement issued by the Mayor, Winston Robert, the Corentyne council opted to make such a decision based on what they deemed was alleged “gross incompetence, misleading the council and failure to accurately account for an expenditure of $3.2 million.”
Stabroek News was unable to contact the Treasurer for a comment.
The statement read, “As a direct result of the municipal treasurer actions, the council spent money that it never had in 2017/2018 and now finds itself in a deficit of $3.2 million for the year 2019. This will adversely affect the execution of projects and the delivery of services by the council.”
The mayor said that after an examination of the council’s record, the findings were made in February, which led the council to request an explanation from the treasurer. However, the statement said that the treasurer gave several different explanations. “One explanation given by the treasurer was that the sum of $3.2 million was utilised to purchase a skid steer in the year 2016. However, the records of the council that were prepared by the treasurer shows no expenditure in the year 2016,”the statement added.
Additionally, his statement noted that before any decision was taken, the treasurer’s personnel file was pulled by councillors which revealed that “due to her (alleged) gross incompetence the council lost in excess of $3.6 million in rates and taxes from Black Bush Rice Milling Company for the period 2007 – 2016 which she claimed was a miscalculation.”
The release disclosed, for that specific infraction, the council recommended to the Local Government Commission that Griffith be suspended. However, the statement claims that no action has since been taken by the commission. As such, immediately after the meeting, a letter was dispatched to the commission with the council’s recommendation.
Furthermore, the mayor stressed that the council has taken the necessary steps to secure all records and that “the office intends to hold firm [to] its decision to send the treasurer home on administrative leave pending an investigation.”
Meanwhile, Stabroek News has confirmed that after the council’s decision on May 22nd the treasurer has continued to remain on the job.
The mayor in his statement to the press said that the treasurer has related to persons that she will remain on the job due to her contacts.
