The Mayor and City Councillors yesterday voted to have current Chief Engineer, Colvern Venture’s vacation leave postponed until the handover of the Engineer’s Department is complete and the Mayor receives responses to letters written to Venture months ago.
Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine, at yesterday’s statutory meeting, again expressed his frustration with the City Engineer’s Department and stated that after sending letters to Venture months back, he is yet to receive correspondence. “I will make mention in the public, I have no apology to make, that Mr. Colvern Venture is not acting in the interest of the city,” the Mayor said.
He went on to say that he has also been awaiting a report for about six months from the engineer to be forwarded to the Chinese ambassador, who wants to “engage the city”. “We are here to give the people the service they need and we are here to correct things and I make mention before, I am fed up with the Engineer’s Department, from the head to the tail,” Narine told the council.
The Mayor told the council that he is seeking advice as to what should be done as he would not take it lightly if Venture is to proceed on vacation without responding to his letters.
A number of councillors then offered their opinions and advice to the Mayor as it related to the matter. Councillor Denroy Tudor asked the Mayor and councillors if the report or information that he requires can be relayed to him through the Deputy Chief Engineer, who will be acting in the capacity of the Chief Engineer while he is on leave.
Councillor Heston Bostwick chimed in and told the council that since it was recognised that the officers under Venture are usually unable to provide the relevant information, the engineer should have put some system in place a while back. He further added that the Town Clerk should be held accountable as she is the one responsible for ensuring that the officers do what is required of them. “The consistent uncaring and disregarding conduct of the City Engineer… it is unacceptable but persons had their own feelings. Simple matters cannot be addressed by the substantive engineer and I don’t know what are the reasons, other than total disrespect in my view to the council,” Bostwick said.
He added that if the Town Clerk cannot discipline officers under her control, the council should recommend discipline for the Town Clerk.
Acting Town Clerk, Sharon Harry-Munroe, in response, told the council that the matter is being discussed prematurely, as the Engineer’s Department is currently in the process of being handed over. She said that because the process has not been concluded, she would not be able to tell the council what was done and what was not done by the Engineer’s Department. Bostwick then challenged the Town Clerk, stating that a handover process should not be done if there are a number of incomplete projects.
One of the councillors suggested to the Mayor that the engineer remains at work until the handing over process is completed. A motion was later moved by one of the councillors that Venture should not proceed on vacation leave until the handing over process is complete and the Mayor receives responses to his letters. The motion was voted on and unanimously carried.
A second motion was moved and voted on by councillors to have an action sheet added to the council’s agenda for their statutory meetings. Mayor Narine suggested that the sheet be added to the current agenda to keep the councillors updated on motions that were carried and decisions that were made by the council. “We timely go through the decisions here at this statutory but we do not know what happens to those decisions for the past months but we just focus on the one from last council and I ask that council place an item on its agenda from now, the action sheet,” Narine said. He told the council that the action sheet should provide updates to the council on decisions that were made from January to date and what actions were made subsequent to the decision.
A few councillors stood to give their opinion on the action sheet and all stated that it would be of benefit to the council and keep the administration and council up to date on the changes that would have come about because of the decisions made.
The motion was subsequently voted on with a majority of councillors voting in favour of the action sheet being added to the agenda.
