COMMISSIONER of the Commission of Inquiry into the operations of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Mr. Keith Burrowes said Monday that thoroughness and validity will not be compromised for expediency in the compilation of his report.

‘ACCURACY WILL NOT BE SACRIFICED AT THE TWIN ALTARS OF SPEED AND EXPEDIENCY’: Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry Mr. Keith Burrowes speaks with senior officials of the M&CC at a meeting convened Monday at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown.

The session was a follow up from previous meetings held with stakeholders, which called for mechanisms to facilitate the Council’s effectiveness in the delivery of services. One such suggestion was the establishment of baseline information to inform the creation of benchmark for current operations.

Burrowes emphasised the importance of setting benchmarks to improve the overall management and functioning of the municipality.

He said the information garnered from them Monday and previously will be used to strengthen his compendium and fill the void in management of the City’s affairs.

Burrowes stated that there is need to establish a database for collecting, retrieving and disseminating critical information within the various municipal departments to enhance efficiency in the day to day management.

In the two-and-a-half hour discussion, attention was given to the nature of interaction among the various departments and specific cases were highlighted where efficiency of the Council’s operations was compromised due to the uncoordinated interaction among Council’s departments. They also aired their views on employment, squatting, transportation, equipment, security and one manager alleged that a few councillors practiced favouritism.

Other issues raised at the session included the following:
* The extent to which squatting is contributing to drainage problems during the rainy season

* Cost /Benefit of the services provided and the extent to which the Council’s expansion of its programmes to new areas has had negative implications on the delivery of its core services as mandated in the Chapter 28:01

* The effect of the shortage of skilled personnel on the provision of services to the city

* The issue of poor financial management and the lack of adequate strategies to prioritize the work programme to ensure that key services are delivered.

On the issue of security, Acting Town Clerk Yonette Pluck, when questioned, said there are 254 persons in the Council’s employ but about 40 per cent of them guard the city’s assets.

Another official was of the view that municipal security is disorganised and the problem is more one of management.

The session saw full participation of all senior personnel – approximately 20 – who indicated that this is the first time an exercise of this nature has been completed. The commission has received several letters and e-mails from senior officers of the Council and other stakeholders indicating the usefulness of the process to planning for results.

More Efficiency
Speaking with the media after, Burrowes said his work is almost complete but lamented it is becoming taxing and overwhelming.

He acknowledged that he has ventured outside his Terms of Reference but emphasized that this was necessary in order to address issues highlighted in the ToR.

“There might be arguments in some quarters that some of these things were not part of the Terms of Reference,” Burrowes agreed but said they were broad and, while not deliberately pronounced on, to have been able to get at them, one had to do a little bit more.

“…it, unfortunately, took some time,” he noted.
Burrowes expressed confidence that, if his recommendations to the Minister of Local Government, Mr. Kellawan Lall, are accepted, no doubt there is likely to be a greater level of planning and the Council will be in a better position to allocate resources in a more strategic manner, thus ensuring improvement in the delivery of services provided.

“If the recommendations are not accepted, none of them, I will still consider it a valuable exercise, simply because the process allowed for debate on the factors which are deemed as impediments to effective service delivery. It enabled people to be introspective and address some of these things that were not addressed before,” he offered.

He observed that, over the past five (5) months, there has been some evidence that the M&CC has been working on a number of initiatives which emanated from discussions and, with the right leadership, City Hall will be making progressive strides.

Burrowes said, based on his Terms of Reference, he will have to pronounce on the accountability and culpability of the City Treasurer and Town Clerk who were sent on leave to allow for the probe following the Auditor General’s findings.

He said he will be briefing Minister Lall on Friday and presenting his documentation soon after.

“Depending on which side of the fence you sit, you will expect certain things from the report and you will be disappointed if it does not have those things. So it’s inevitable that, like with any other commission of inquiry, there is likely to be criticism as it relates to process, the length of time and the recommendations themselves. I expect that,” Burrowes stated.