–force her to break-in, at risk of legal action

ACTING Town Clerk Carol Sooba yesterday, in an exclusive interview with this publication, disclosed that she is of the opinion that the next move by the Mayor and a section of the Council is to take legal action against her for entering her office after it was “unlawfully” barred. 

The Town Clerk related that upon arrival at City Hall yesterday morning around 8:30am, she saw media operatives videoing her from the moment she stepped out of her vehicle. At this point, she realised that the atmosphere

was not welcoming, since one young lady with a camera was recording her every move.
After several requests for the young lady to stop videoing her, Sooba said she became flustered, since she was unaware of the reason for the “early-morning drama”.
“She continued to push the camera in my face, and I asked her several times to stop it, because I was trying to figure out what was wrong,” Sooba said.
As a result of the reporter’s consistent “bombardment” through the use of a video camera, the Acting Town Clerk said she “pushed the camera out of the way.”
As she proceeded to her office, Sooba said she came to realise that it was barred by strips of wood which were tightly nailed, thereby preventing entry. As such, she headed directly to the internal entrance, but was yet again greeted by new locks and hasp and staples.

According to Sooba, she then attempted to communicate this via telephone to the Chief Constable, Andrew Foo and other ranks of the City Constabulary since she was prevented from accessing her office. This however proved futile, so she then requested her security officers to remove the locks for her to gain entry.

The Acting Town clerk is contending that this act, which was executed by persons unknown, is one that was prearranged, since sections of the media had to have been made aware of the situation. “They had to have known that this was going to happen, because no media has ever been at City Hall before my arrival, videoing from the moment I stepped out of the vehicle,” she stressed.
She was advised by senior staff of the City Constabulary and made aware that the perpetrators had committed an illegal act, since no one is authorized to enter any section within City Hall after working hours without a constabulary officer accompanying them. And from intelligence reaching the constabulary department up to yesterday, there has been no official recording of any constabulary officers entering the premises.
“It is obvious that these are strategies used to cause confusion, to disrupt and negatively affect the work of the administration at City Hall. There has also been a scathing attack on my security officers which seeks to remove them by any means, by the Mayor and supporting councilors. They want to remove these officers to expose my life to threats, because why else would they attack persons who do not get in the way of their work?” the Town Clerk questioned.
She maintained that she will not allow “acts of bullyism, intimidation and them to take law into their own hands by applying pressure by whatever means to remove me.”
Sooba concluded that she will continue to expect actions such as these in the future and will do whatever is in her power to restore dignity to City Hall through the execution of her duties.

(By Ravin Singh)