Dear Editor,
Lelon Saul, the City’s Finance Committee Chair, has penned a humorous propaganda piece in Stabroek News. Saul’s mediocre opus, a masterpiece in projection, would have made Freud proud. In it, he attempts to deflect responsibility for Georgetown’s challenges onto the Central Government, but the facts paint a very different picture.
As the head of the Finance Committee, Saul himself has overseen one of the most mediocre and delayed budget processes in recent memory. The City’s budget was presented eight months after it was statutorily due —an unacceptable delay by any standard. When it was finally delivered, the budget was so lacking in detail and relevance that Saul promised a “supplemental budget” within 6 to 8 weeks. This promise remains unfulfilled to this day.
For context, Saul’s budget astonishingly omitted critical financial details such as accounts payable and debt servicing, essentially pretending that the City’s financial obligations didn’t exist. For example, the City’s 1.6B debt to the GRA was magically rendered nonexistent by a single wave of Saul’s mediocre wand. Editor, the failure to present timely and comprehensive budgets has hamstrung the Council’s ability to plan and execute its responsibilities, forcing President Ali’s government to fill the gaps to maintain essential services. No amount of projection and blame will change these basic facts.
In this vein, permit me to ask a few direct questions to Lelon Saul:
When will you finally present a comprehensive and relevant budget to the Council?
Is the public aware that the City’s financial software, which handles ratepayers’ information, is beset by corrupt data? There is reportedly a 15% chance that the rates reflected in the system could be wrong. Why has this issue persisted one year into your tenure as Finance Committee chair?
How does the above issue impact the Council’s ability to collect from ratepayers?
It is most evident that Lelon Saul’s approach seems more focused on creating division than fostering unity, a tactic all too familiar to his political party. Instead of building bridges, he opts to widen the gaps. As Finance Committee Chair, he must be well aware of the Central Government’s extensive support to the City’s health centres and its management of major drainage canals. The NDIA even supplies fuel to city-controlled pump stations. The PPP/C Councillors remain steadfast in their refusal to advocate for the allocation of public funds to an entity riddled with financial opacity and mismanagement.
Editor, the truth is that the Central Government’s involvement in city affairs is not about undermining the Council; it is about stepping in where the Council has repeatedly failed. The people of Georgetown deserve better than the excuses and tantrums offered by Saul. They deserve a council that is competent, proactive, and capable of managing the City’s affairs without external intervention.
Sincerely,
Alfonso De Armas
PPP/C City Councillor
