Linden’s Town Clerk slams Mayor for derailing submission of work plan to Ministry

…debunks accusations of political interference by Minister

Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon, who has accused Local Government Minister Sonia Parag of political interference in the council’s work, has been confronted by his own Town Clerk, Lennox Gasper, who revealed that the Mayor himself has been hindering the council’s progress.
Gasper in a statement said that it was Solomon, who hindered the approval of a work plan that would have directly benefitted the people of Linden. He explained that together with the Treasurer and Works supervisor, they had recommended subvention funds to repair the Wismar Market roof.
This was after the Mayor sought funds to acquire a $16 million mini excavator and $2 million for road aggregate material… despite the fact that the council had several derelict vehicles that were previously purchased with subvention funds and have remained unrepaired.

The Local Government Ministry, in explaining why it did not approve the funds for the mini excavator, had pointed out that these derelict vehicles show evidence of poor vehicle management by the council.
“In collaboration with Ministry technical advisors, the Town Clerk, Treasurer and Works Supervisor recommended reallocating the subvention funds to the repair of the Wismar Market roof, a pressing concern for vendors and a project that directly benefits the community.”
“However, the Mayor opposed this adjustment, asserting that the council would not be pressured into altering its work programme. Consequently, the council failed to finalise a revised work programme, resulting in the funds remaining unutilised as the fiscal year ended,” the Town Clerk said.
According to the Town Clerk, contrary to Solomon’s claims, the Ministry has actually been very supportive of the Linden Municipality. As a matter of fact, the Ministry had donated a mini-excavator to address flooding concerns. Further, a task force with 15 local residents had been established to maintain drains and parapets.
“Regarding the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor… the Minister’s actions are in strict adherence to the law, which mandates her responsibility to fix the date or period for such elections. These elections are facilitated by Town Clerks and local Government officers under her purview.”

“Accusations of interference in this area are baseless and disregard the statutory framework governing these processes. The Ministry of Local Government has consistently acted in the best interest of the Linden community, with a commitment to ensuring transparency, accountability and the effective use of public funds,” the Town Clerk said.
It is not the first time that Solomon’s leadership has come under criticism from Gasper, who back in December had slammed the Mayor for his poor financial management and understanding of the council and it polices.
Solomon had conducted a walk-through exercise at the town’s Wismar market. There the Mayor had told stallholders and patrons about the plans his administration has in store for the facility. One of the issues the Mayor told stallholders the council is working to address is to repair the market’s roof, however he said these efforts have been futile due to a lack of cooperation from the Town Clerk.
In his response, Gasper had told this publication that the Mayor had made a request for some $1 million to be withdrawn from the council’s market emergency fund to purchase Euroband to patch the market’s roof.
However, Gasper had explained that the council’s market emergency funds is only to facilitate minor works. The Town Clerk added that with the current state of the market’s roof, emergency works must be done to reconstruct the entire structure.