Eight months after the conclusion of a Commission of Inquiry into the functioning of City Hall, the Local Government Commission (LGC) is still working to implement the over 30 recommendations that were made.
In an interview with Stabroek News, LGC Chairman Mortimer Mingo indicated that several of the recommendations were referred to City Hall for implementation.
“Several of these relate to payments to agencies such as NIS [National Insurance Scheme] and GRA [Guyana revenue Authority] as well as various contractors,” he said, while adding that feedback has since been received that the issues have been “referred to various committees of the [Mayor and City Council] where payments are concerned.”
Specifically, the Council is “addressing payment of contractors” and devising a payment plan for NIS.
One recommendation which the LGC has operationalised itself is disciplinary action against the former Town Clerk Royston King.
King was dismissed via letter, dated Wednesday, January 23rd, and he has since filed a court challenge to his dismissal.
Meanwhile, a forensic audit and a criminal investigation have also been initiated. Mingo explained that the Guyana Police Force is awaiting the result of the audit so as to determine if any criminal activity has occurred. The Audit Office had been waiting for several documents to be handed over by acting Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Munroe. Harry-Munroe has since been sent on administrative leave for failing to turn over these documents in a timely manner to the LGC.
The inquiry, which was led by retired judge Cecil Kennard, was set up after the LGC received numerous complaints about the management of City Hall. Following its investigation, which included a series of public hearings, it recommended that several officers, including King, be disciplined for abuse of office and other alleged violations as well as incompetence. It also recommended that central government consider a conditional bailout for the municipality to cover several debts, including sums owed to contractors and statutory bodies, such as the NIS, which is owed in excess of $206 million, the GRA, which is owed excess of $374 million and the Public Service Credit Union, which is owed over $46 million.
