Dear Editor,
As a property owner, resident and business owner in our capital city, I would like to enquire from the powers that be when they would relieve the citizens of Georgetown from the oligarchy that exists within the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown. This oligarchy was formerly known as the “Fantastic Four”, and is now known as the “Terrific Trio.”
The level of venality, duplicity and mismanagement there is simply unbelievable, and it just keeps getting worse and worse. If there is an entity in the country that needs the examination of a commission of enquiry, it is the Georgetown Municipality. Could you imagine an entity receiving and spending billions of dollars each year and not being audited?
It is complete anarchy at City Hall, where senior officials ‘buse out’ the Minister that is responsible for the Council, and ignore court rulings and the wishes of the Government. It is a serious affair when officers undertake major activities without the Council’s knowledge or fiat.
And we cannot forget the numerous hair-raising scandals that have occurred over the last two and a half years at City Hall, from the parking meters’ ignominy to the stun gun fiasco, to the attempted cover up of the rape of a juvenile, to a firearm going missing, to inappropriate sexual conduct by a senior official in the Engineer’s Department, to the granting of permission to a vendor to build a two-storey structure without Council’s knowledge or permission — something that would change the aesthetics of the Stabroek Market — without consultation with the National Trust, to the building of model homes on the city’s reserves.
Can the citizens be told what tangible benefits were derived from all of those many luxury trips abroad? Can the citizens be told why the City Police Training School was allowed to go to rack and ruin, even though it was totally rehabilitated during the term of the last Council? Can the Citizens be told when the Stabroek Market Clock would work again, having received foreign funding a long time ago? And when will works begin on the restoration of City Hall?
Just look at the Stabroek Market wharf, which collapsed years ago. Rather than fix it, they hang some lights at the front for window dressing. Council has an administration that refuses to recognize or to engage the vendors’ union. This same administration has farmed out a part of the Farnum Field in Subryanville to a private individual, and has attempted to sell the Bel Air Park Playfield to a private developer, all against the covenants associated with these properties. The greed in this attempt is palpable, as at least one of those individuals owns multiple homes, and is attempting to grab more.
Sincerely,
Mark Roopan
