THROUGH recent reports in the press, I have learnt that the workers of the Georgetown City Council did not receive their December salaries in time for the Christmas Holidays and in fact seem to be unsure when they will be paid.

These unprecedented and rather unfortunate circumstances I believe only serves to draw further attention to the ineptitude and uselessness of the Mayor & Councillors of the City of Georgetown who have obviously outlived their usefulness if there was every any.

Simple logic dictates that under no circumstance should one attempt to spend more than one earns, but common sense seems to be lacking at City Hall. We constantly hear calls for the widening of the revenue base, but one never hears of resolution to constrict the expenditure base. And one wonders why? Is there some vested interest to keep its expenditure at this elevated and unsustainable level?

The City Council continuously fritters away hundreds of millions of dollars each year in refuse collection and disposal services that are contracted out and yet the City is perpetually in an unhealthy, filthy and appalling state all year round. Is this not literally and figuratively money down the drain. Why the City Council cannot use this money to purchase its own garbage trucks and other refuse disposal equipment and do the job themselves in an economical and more effective manner? City Hall obviously cannot afford to go the route of contractors who are expensive and obviously ineffective judging from the dirty state of the city.

The same logic should be applied to the other services the Councils obligated to provide and which they continuously farm out to private individuals and companies. Surely, the security of the city’s assets could be undertaken by the existing ranks of Constabulary and their own security guards rather than the private guard service they have employed. Certainly, rather than renting bulldozers, trucks and other heavy duty equipment at exorbitant rates, it would make more economic sense for the Council to acquire its own equipment if even it is on hire purchase.

Come on Mr. Mayor, do not get sucked into the usual blame game, but rather live up to your reputation as the “Action Man”. Lift the Council from its perennial monetary predicament and place it on a sound fiscal footing, with prudent financial management returning to City Hall being a part of your legacy.
CHRIS PERIERA