HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon said the engagements between the Government of Guyana (GOG) and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) are ongoing.

Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet briefing last Friday, Luncheon said the engagement with the City Council is ongoing and “that engagement specifically identified a number of features, mention of which had earlier been made surrounding the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was executed between the administration and the City Council,” he stated.

The MOU was signed last month when the M&CC met with President Bharrat Jagdeo so that they can access $10M on a monthly basis to assist with expenditure on capital works around the city.

Dr. Luncheon reminded that in that MOU, the government and the City Council committed to having seven specific areas in Georgetown where the $10M a month would be dedicated for the clean up and the restoration of the aesthetics in the city.

In the first cycle, this would end sometime in early May of this year…I think the MOU and its other documentation identified as many as many 125 people would be employed to address the clean up and the restoration of the aesthetics,” he stressed.

He said those numbers of persons employed would probably see at least about 2/3 to 3/4 of the $10M being wages and salaries while the remaining would be used to procure goods, repairs and provide safety wear for those employed to carry out those activities.

The Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development on the government side would be working with the City Council to give effect to the MOU and on that basis and using specific indicators that track the commitment and its implementation – one year or 12 months of $10M monthly would be released to the City Council,” he reiterated.

According to the terms of the MOU, the government has undertaken to provide to the M&CC ten million dollars monthly for twelve months starting from this month.

This financial support will be disbursed on a monthly basis on condition that the M&CC, to the satisfaction of the GOG, implements a work programme and achieves indicators for the preceding month as agreed to between the parties.

The MOU further stated that the M&CC will implement the agreed upon programme that concentrates on the improvement of the aesthetics of the city in the areas decided on by the parties, and will include but not be limited to landscaping, cleaning of drains, grass cutting, beautification, collection and disposal of garbage.

For the purpose of implementing the work programme and achieving the indicators, M&CC shall provide a core staff with a Supervisory Head, the MOU said.

It also states that the M&CC will maintain in good order and provide records of expenses in sufficient detail as it relates to the works in support of requests for disbursements, and make same available for auditing purposes.

The fifth undertaking of the M&CC, according to the MOU, is that the Municipality will maintain a separate and dedicated account with the funds provided under this MOU and will manage the activities under it as a project on behalf of the GOG.

The MOU also stated that the GOG is desirous of further supporting the M&CC in improving the quality of life of the citizens of Georgetown and its aesthetic standards, as well as delivering its support through means that promote labour intensive activities.