Home News Govt instructs municipalities to return unspent money
…Linden Mayor cries foul
Linden Mayor Carwyn Holland, who is also president of the Guyana Association of Municipalities (GAM), has strongly objected to an instruction handed down by Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Communities Ministry for municipalities across the country to return unspent money to the Communities Ministry.
During a press conference, Holland noted that the municipality was in the process of procuring two compactor trucks to deal with sanitation woes and move ahead with contracts when it was instructed to return unspent money to the Ministry. He said he has since consulted with GAM to look into the situation.
“As President of GAM, I would have had discussions with several mayors, and would have received complaints from several municipalities which are holding strong that, for the first time now, in years, they have to send back unspent money to the Ministry of Communities. They are objecting strongly to that. This (directive) will not only affect Linden, but many towns across Guyana,” Holland predicted.
He added that he would have heard complaints from municipalities, such as Corriverton and Rose Hall Town, which had already allotted sums of money for various ventures before being instructed to return same. Holland explained that the Georgetown and Bartica municipalities do not have such complaints. He said that while the Communities Ministry should take some responsibility for the decision, the PS is more responsible.
Holland is calling for an explanation for the “sudden change”.
According to Holland, the second half of the funding for 2016 was received only around September, at which time the Linden municipality was in a transition stage in regard to administration, and there also was the issue of the former Town Clerk being sent on administrative leave.
“We were told by the PS, verbally, not to spend. Several times we requested this instruction in writing from the PS, (but) we never got it. However, what we got now is an instruction to send back monies, even after the understanding that we would have procured machinery (compactor trucks)… When the PS came here, the PS claimed that the Ministry would not do the procurement… So we now have to do that procurement again. That is stymieing our development,” he charged.
Holland disclosed that the Linden municipality has not sent back any unspent money, neither does it intend to do so. The total money unspent from last year, he noted, is around $8 million; while the total from 2014 to 2016 is just over $13 million.
“Our ground is that we’re a statutory body. Municipalities are not called upon to return any monies. These are grants given to municipalities to serve their communities… We’re looking at the decentralization of power, and I do not believe that is the way to go,” Holland said.
He has called on the ministry to retract the instruction, which is strongly opposed by GAM, and supports the call for a meeting between GAM and the Finance Ministry.