Dear Editor,
Please publish my letter so the relevant authorities can make some decisions to improve in the smooth running of this very important government agency at the Lethem Town Council, in Region Nine. It is no longer “a house of secrets” that the administrative level of this agency, has in recent times, fallen to the level of rock bottom.
When Carlton Beckles took over as Mayor for the Lethem Town Council, from a PPP handpicked Interim Manage-ment Committee on the 1st of April, 2016, the coffer was without a dollar. An invisible office staff was headed by an overseer who subsequently left. At the initial stage of the APNU+AFC Lethem Town Council, there was no office equipment to carry out its mandate. They went on to launch with a full and vibrant office staff, from the ghost office they had inherited. By the end of Carlton Beckles’ term as Mayor, a number of very important initiatives were put in place: School bus to transport students to their destinations; a four-wheel Hilux vehicle; a modern compact garbage truck; a tractor and trailer and skid bin; upgrading of several sports facilities; upgrading of several recreational parks with green spaces; a park in the centre of Lethem business hub; introduction of Christmas tree lighting and gift distribution at Lethem/St. Ignatius village; a blueprint for a spanking new building office for the Lethem Town Hall, which are just a few to mentioned.
Apart from the abovementioned, the entire staff enjoyed early payments of salaries, of which the CHIP workers were included. Despite adequate time given to prepare time sheets for payments, late salaries has become a regular feature at the Lethem Town Council. Editor, the situation at the Lethem Town Council is poor. Servicing and maintenance of vehicles, machinery and office equipment, together with inadequate supply of office stationery, are not treated as priority. Sanitation workers tasked with duties on the garbage truck, continue to leave the job regularly, while some are becoming ill because of poor sanitary and protective gears to perform duties. Nothing’s done to remedy the situation. Coupled with this, micromanagement in detailing workers for duties, is contaminated with overlapping issues within departments. Revenues remain stagnant, because of poor enforcement and monitoring in the extraction of materials. Unauthorized and illegal dumping of garbage is visibly evident. Building and construction sites are not regularly monitored, as a result of the absence of a logistical planning and data base system. CHIP workers are pressured to be involved in other tasks, other than their normal duty that they were contracted to perform in the Lethem municipality.
Editor, I am privy to some information that the Lethem Town Council is now being given contracts totaling millions of dollars. The CHIP workers are detailed to carry out these duties, but, they are poorly compensated and only paid their normal salaries, as compared to skilled workers. While persons continue to abuse their authority, they are also taking advantage of opportunities that are readily available at the Lethem Town Council. As a matter of fact they are depriving others from gaining financially at a time when many are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This unfortunate scenario of double standards that are practiced at the Lethem Town Council, has now become a spectacle in the public domain, which has unanimously defeated the motto of the Lethem Town Council, ‘Working Together Har-moniously to Promote Equality and Trans-parency for the Benefit and Wellbeing of all’.
Sincerely,
(Name and address provided)
