Councillors raise questions about Hamilton Green security benefit

City Hall financial woes

…advised to table motion to rescind

By Lakhram Bhagirat

The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown has been providing security for former Mayor Hamilton Green since August 2016 and that was supposed to last until the passage of the Bill for Hamilton Green’s Pension, which was passed in March 2017.
However, despite being cash-strapped and unable to pay wages, the municipality is still paying Green’s security tab.

Opposition Councillor Bishram Kuppen registered his concerns about this at a recent statutory meeting and was told by Town Clerk Royston King that it was a decision of the Council, which the body would have to rescind.
Currently, City Hall’s payroll is in excess of $112 million with more than 800 staff and 250 pensioners. The numbers continue to grow, according to the administration. For years, the municipality has been claiming it is cash strapped and unable to pay workers.
As a result of the nonpayment, workers would quite often resort to protesting in front of City Hall. The most recent protest for salaries was a little over two weeks ago.
In August 2016, a majority of Councillors voted in favour of a motion to have the services of the City Constabulary extended to Green after Mayor Patricia Chase Green moved the motion. It was seconded by Councillor Heston Bostwick at a statutory meeting.
Chase Green had said that the former Mayor served for 20 years in succession and his was a unique case. When this motion was passed, Green was already benefiting from the services, as he never stopped doing so after demitting office as Mayor months before.
Additionally, apart from round-the-clock city policemen being posted at his residence, Green also enjoys the services of a chauffeur and gardening staff at the expense of the Council.
The arrangement was supposed to be until Green would begin receiving his benefits as a former Prime Minister. He has been receiving those benefits since April 1, but is yet to give up the service extended by the cash-strapped City Hall.
Under the Prime Minister Hamilton Green Pension Bill, Green was granted a pension for his tenure as Prime Minister, between 1985 and 1992, based on the salary of a current Prime Minister as well as the full benefits of a former President, a position which he never held. Green receives an annual pension of $20,580,000, other benefits to the value of $3.1 million annually, two vehicles provided and maintained by the State and two first-class annual airfares provided by the State.

Manpower audit
Councillor Kuppen has been calling for a manpower audit for a long time, but the administration is yet to deliver. However, King has been informing the Councillors that the findings of the audit carried would be tabled, but they are yet to see the reports.
Kuppen said that the manpower audit was vital so that the disposition and relevancy of staff placements could be critically examined for redundancy and necessity. In addition, Kuppen said that the Audit Department of the Council serves no purpose and should be removed, given the lack of reports and the never-ending financial crisis at City Hall.
Chairman of the Finance Committee, Oscar Clarke, reiterated the need for the labour audit when he proposed cutting down the number of staff at the municipality.
The manpower audit report was expected to be presented at the city’s budget planning for consideration.
In order to look at ways to broaden and increase its revenue base, the M&CC decided to formulate a new committee to brainstorm ways of increasing revenue stream. The ‘Think-Tank Committee’ is made up of members of the Finance Committee and other Councillors who volunteered to deliberate on various ways in which the Council could either collect monies owed or embark on new revenue-earning initiatives.
Sitting on the Committee are Councillors Monica Thomas, Akeem Peter, Jameel Rasul, Phillip Smith and James Samuels.