As the mayoral elections get underway, Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Sherrod Duncan has announced that he will be contesting for the position of Mayor of the City of Georgetown. 
In an interview with Guyana Times on Wednesday, Duncan said that a special statutory meeting is expected to be held before December 12, during which either sitting Mayor Patricia Chase-Green will be re-elected by the City Councillors as Mayor, or a new Mayor will put into office.
Duncan explained that even though Chase-Green has not been in power for a complete year, the election is being held to come into conformity with the Municipal and District Council Act.
“The Act says that elections for Mayor must be held by December 16 of every year, that is why the election will be held so soon,” the Deputy Mayor told this newspaper.
Chase-Green has held the post of Georgetown Mayor from April 1 of this year, after serving many years as second in command after former Deputy Mayor Robert Williams died.
Both Duncan and Chase-Green contested on the A Partnership for national Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) ticket, but the two, however, seemed to be at odds on many occasions as they have held opposing views on the management of the capital city.
In July, reports surfaced that the Deputy Mayor was not provided with the benefits the Mayor and Town Clerk received. This included transportation and Duncan claimed that he was forced to utilise a bicycle as a means of reporting to from the office, whereas the Mayor and Town Clerk were appointed a vehicle and driver.
Chase-Green had stated that this was so because she was not granted these luxuries in her position as Deputy Mayor. However, it was opined that this scenario was a way of “punishing” Duncan for his stance against the installation of parking meters in Georgetown.
Meanwhile, the Communities Ministry in a statement on Wednesday announced that eight of nine municipalities have already submitted their dates for internal elections. This was led by the town council of Corriverton which held its elections last week Thursday that resulted in a tie between current Mayor Ganesh Gangadin and Deputy Mayor Krishnand Jaichand. New elections are scheduled for Friday.
In Anna Regina’s November 29 election, Mayor Rabindranauth Mohan and Deputy Mayor Darshan Persaud were re-elected to their posts. The Lethem Municipality is scheduled to hold its elections today, followed by Rose Hall on December 7 and Linden on December 8.
Meanwhile, New Amsterdam and Mabaruma have scheduled elections for December 14, while Bartica’s election is slated for the December 15. All elections are expected to be completed by December 16, as stipulated by Chapter 28:01 of the Municipal and District Council Act.
The Communities Ministry also announced that so far, eight of the nine municipalities have submitted their approved budgets and noted that work programmes for 2017 were expected to be submitted to the Ministry by December 15 for notification purposes. (Shemuel Fanfair)
