Dear Editor,
In spite of all of the repetitive declarations of being broke and bankrupt made by the Georgetown Municipality and claims of shortages of financial and other resources, it is clear that the Council is the place to be if you want to be financially rewarded, or as the boys in Guyana would say a “good place to make an extra dollar.”
It is quite mind-boggling that whilst the lower ranked workers have to wait each month for their wages and salaries way past the official pay date, whilst pensioners have to wait for long periods to receive their monthly pension, and whilst recently retired persons are waiting for years for their gratuity, some Councillors and some senior officers constantly get extra perks.
Examples of this would be the fact that Councillors get special and considerable emoluments when they sit on special committees such as the parking meters, in spite of being paid travelling and other allowances each month to attend all meetings. Councillors and some senior officers also get special payments for being around at events such as Mashramani Day.
And then they have the per diems which are paid for both local (rural) and overseas travel which amounts to millions upon millions each year, with even the drivers that take them to places such as Suriname receiving spending money in US dollars. Special meals and overtime is the order of the day at City Hall, which sometimes amount to some persons getting almost twice their pay, with bodyguards and drivers having to wait outside gyms, restaurants, shopping malls, etc late into the night at the whims and fancies of the ‘Big Ones and their families’.
I guess it is ‘the good life at City Hall’.
Best regards,
Sambu Jacobus
