“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”

Dear Editor,
The Alliance For Change (AFC) party would be well advised to take heed of the famous George Santayana quote which says that ‘those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’
Looking at the recent shenanigans of the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, particularly the mistreatment of the AFC members, including preventing the current Deputy Mayor from being nominated for re-election, the precluding from the agenda of the motion of No Confidence by a former Deputy Mayor and subsequent attempt to bring disciplinary action against the mover of the motion, should cause the leadership of the AFC to become deeply troubled about the union they share with their partners in the coalition Government and their seriousness about shared governance.
But looking at recent history, the AFC should hardly be startled by the former Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan being prevented from nominating the incumbent Lionel Jaikaran for re-election to the post of Deputy Mayor. Surely, they must recall in 1996 the reneging on an agreement to rotate the Mayorship of Georgetown between the three parties represented at the Mayor and City Council by that same group that resulted in the then Deputy Mayor Philomena Sahoye-Shury, being denied the opportunity of serving as Mayor and also being voted out as Deputy Mayor.
So now that the one group has taken the levers of Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and the Chairmanship of the important committees, what can the citizens expect?
What can the citizens expect for the next nine months? They can anticipate significantly more and higher taxes and fees being levied upon them by the Council for 2018 as they seek to pressure the citizens more to underwrite their luxury needs and habits, including the upping of the container tax, more attempts to impose the notorious parking meter system among many other fees.
Until the ‘Terrific Triumvirate’ is removed and until there is a thorough forensic audit, including an audit of their Internal Section and a Commission of Inquiry at City Hall, citizens should just sit tight and endure many, many, more luxury trips, large tenders being doled out without tender procedures being adhered to, more nepotism, cronyism and favouritism and much more slackness at City Hall.

Sincerely,
Laquisha Kaftans