Dear Editor,
I NOTED with interest a letter published in the media written by Dr. Leslie Ramsammy. In the letter he assailed the mayor, town clerk, etc. of Georgetown.
It is not for me to comment on the first part of his letter, but leave that to the officials now in place to deal with it.My concern is either the myopia or a deliberate attempt to deceive the public on the events that led to the IMC (Interim Management Committee) headed by Dr. James Rose.

In his anxiety  to peddle characteristic propaganda, he quite improperly invested Dr. Rose with the title of mayor.Dr. Rose was named Chairman of the Interim Management Committee that managed Georgetown from 1992 up to the time of the Local Government Elections in 1994.The facts briefly are as follows:a) After the PPP won the elections in 1992, it is clear Freedom House could not tolerate  governance of the City being in the hands of a PNC Council.

The newly elected Government set out to suffocate and frustrate the Council headed  by a decent man, Mayor Compton Young.The situation worsened as the PPP’s leadership began to describe the Councillors as  rascals, being stupid and generally describing the Council in uncomplimentary terms Then Leader of the PNC, Desmond Hoyte, was so disgusted that he persuaded the Mayor and Councillors to resign en block.

They all did with the exception of Harold( “Lightweight”) Kissoon.The PPP then installed a Committee headed by Dr. James Rose as Chairman to manage the affairs of the City. Once the IMC (PPP appointees) was in place, the government facilitated this IMC with money, machinery and management.The idea of course was for the IMC to look good and therefore enhance the fortunes of the PPP in the upcoming Georgetown Municipal Elections.

This ruse had limited affect,for at those elections, the GGG (Good and Green Georgetown), led by myself gained 12 of the 30seats, the PNC secured 10 seats and the PPP eight seats It is instructive to note that Dr. James Rose and the IMC, in spite of the massive help and outpourings of goodwill by the PPP Government, stated that taxes and rates and other revenues available to the Georgetown M&CC were insufficient to provide citizens a satisfactory service.When I became Mayor in 1994, I took into account the wisdom of the IMC’s position that additional resources were necessary to manage the City.

I therefore proposed among other measures a Lottery for the City or State to garner  the additional funds necessary. The Late Haslyn Parris assisted in identifying and negotiating a group that was prepared to run the Lottery with a portion of the profit for the benefit of the City and citizens. A delegation including Philomena Sahoye-Shury and Robert Williams, met with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who was then performing the duties of President.

Mr. Hinds told my delegation that the PPP Government could not support the venture because they feared opposition from religious and other bodies opposed to every form of gambling.On this I make no further comments that subsequent events prove the hypocrisy and trickery of that statement by the Honourable, and I repeat, Honourable Samuel Archibald Hinds.According to the constitution, the mayoral term should last 3 years and each year it is the Councillors who would elect the mayor.

At the first session, the GGG majority prevailed and I became mayor. After that, Dr. Jagan engaged me in conversations about the mayoralty and proposed that we give the second term to the PNC and that the third term to elect a PPP person as mayor. Dr. Jagan told me that such a proposal would sit well with the principles of socialist democracy.I told Dr. Jagan that I was attracted to the idea, but why not extend this principle to sharing some ministerial portfolios with the PNC.

That brought an end to our conservation.I cannot say if Mr. Hoyte or persons in the PNC bought the idea, but at the 1995-96 election for mayor, the PNC (10) and the PPP (8) combined their votes and that is how Ranwell Jordan was elected mayor.It is clear that during his tenure at Office, Mayor Jordan did not get the support expected from the Government. From the outset, I saw Dr. Jagan’s proposal to have a PPP Mayor in place for the third and final term as an attempt to win the support of Georgetown.

The PPP Government would have given the PPP Mayor their full backing and support so that mayor would look good and bolster the fortunes of the PPP in Georgetown for elections expected to be held in 1997-98. As the boy said as an old political (war-horse) I quickly saw this Trojan horse trick of the PPP.The rest is history.

The PNC soon discovered that the PPP could not be trusted and so at the next bout the GGG majority again prevailed and I became mayor once more.The lack of support and deliberate sabotage by the PPP government is no secret. It was a real horror story, the worst being during the infamous regime of Town Clerk, Carol Sooba.In all of this political struggle the victims were the citizens who then deserved a better service.

I thought I should set the record straight, since Dr. Leslie Ramsammy in his letter sought to ignore the above facts. The truth is the Georgetown municipality cannot deliver unless measures are put in place to broaden its revenue base – the term used by the IMC.

Regards
Hamilton Green