City Hall’s audit up to Auditor General, Communities Minister – Trotman

Even as moves to increase taxation and other revenue earning schemes continue to be rolled out by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), there still has not been any move to have an audit carried out, and Central Government has again backed off, saying it cannot dictate the affairs of the Council.
Even so, taxpaying citizens of Georgetown and stakeholders continue to call for a financial analysis of the Council’s Treasury, but Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman said any such call should be made by the Auditor General and the Communities Minister.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing late last week, Trotman said while the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) came into office “riding on the wave of transparency and openness” and while the City Council is currently in the process of producing a budget to Government, the question on whether there has to be an audit should be answered by the Communities Ministry and the Auditor General. He again made the distinction between Central Government and local government, noting that one of the strong positions taken by the APNU/AFC Government is that it should work towards the restoration of local government.
“There is the expectancy of transparency and accountability. While we encourage it, we cannot demand it,” he told the media.
Meanwhile, Trotman said persons who are paying their rates and taxes must demand a higher standard from both their Central Government and local government, including Neighbourhood and Regional Democratic Councils.
With the introduction of the new parking meter system and increased service fees for some businesses and vendors, the need for a forensic audit is needed more than ever before. City Hall is also said to be in a financial jam, as it recently requested a $600 million bailout from Central Government. However, Government, through Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan, made it clear that the municipality would not be getting that money.
Two months after the Local Government Elections in March 2016, calls were heightened that with a new Council, an audit should be done. The call was made after the new Mayor Patricia Chase-Green had said that the Council was broke. That was never done.