City Hall to start ‘naming and shaming’ property owners, businesses over unpaid rates

– Mayor claims politically-linked company owing over $6B will not be spared

The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) will be moving to publish the names of delinquent property owners and businesses who have fallen behind on paying their rates, a move that according to Georgetown Mayor Alfred Mentore will be applied “across the board.”
During City Hall’s statutory meeting on Tuesday, the Mayor read from a proposed notice that the city will be publishing in the newspapers as a first step, followed by legal action if persons who owe rates do not reach out to the city administration and make representation for their debts.
“The council will have no other choice but to publish the names of delinquent rate payers and lastly, (move) to taking necessary legal remedies provided under law. By Order of the Mayor and Council of the city of Georgetown. I’m working to have the cost of these to be placed in the various media,” Mentore said.
After Mentore read out his proposal and called for a vote, the motion was carried by a majority decision. However, an exchange of words subsequently broke out between Mentore and People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Councillor Don Singh.
The PPP/C Councillor questioned whether the Mayor would also be naming and shaming a company that has been linked to the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), which owes some $6.4 billion to the city.
According to Mentore, however, the naming and shaming will be done across the board. The Georgetown Mayor assured the council that “all of them will be part of this. This is across the board!”
This debt, largely stemming from taxes unpaid for properties, including the PNC/R’s Congress Place Headquarters, has consistently sparked a debate over financial accountability and governance within the city.
In fact, the municipality only announced last month that it would be pursuing the debt, after Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo called on the Council to take decisive action against PNC/R, amid a strike by city workers, who demanded salary increases – allegedly adding to council’s financial constraints.
During one of his weekly press conferences, Jagdeo had criticized the City Council for its failure to address this significant revenue gap, highlighting its detrimental impact on workers and the city’s development.
Further, he had expressed frustration at the Council’s inaction by stating, “The pool of money that I’m talking about, that they refuse to go after, is $6.4 billion, based on an assessment, a demand letter that went out from the City Council… For the many, many years, it never paid taxes to the City Council for the entire massive property that they have at Congress Place. They owe $6.4 billion now, they would not pay it, and the City Council will not go after them”.
Jagdeo had also underscored the Central Government’s substantial financial support for Georgetown.
Projects such as road repairs, drainage improvements, and the development of recreational facilities have been undertaken by the central administration, whereas those responsibilities fall under City Council’s jurisdiction.