– Comprehensive document, says Mayor, Deputy
CONSEQUENT to queries raised in the Auditor General’s Report of 2008, the Burrowes Commission of Inquiry was appointed by the Minister of Local Government to investigate the operations of the M&CC and make recommendations to optimize and effect more efficient and efficacious operational methodologies and service delivery to the populace.

Mr. Keith Burrowes was appointed Commissioner and the Terms of Reference of the Commission included, but were not exclusive to:

l) Investigate (a) the operations in the offices highlighted in the AG’s Report; (b) the procedures regulating staff loans and advances; (c) irregularities in rate collection; (d) municipal accounts in commercial banks.

2) restructuring of municipal departments and their operations;

3) pronounce on the culpability, if any, of the Town Clerk and City Treasurer consequenced by extant investigations;

4) make recommendations and report findings to Minister of Local Government and Regional Development.

In executing this mandate, Commissioner Burrowes said that he recognized the absolute necessity of expanding the scope of investigations because of the parlous state the Burrowes Commission discovered the municipality to be in.

Mr. Burrowes explained to the Chronicle that he was therefore constrained to conceive a more holistic approach and more expansive and intensified methodologies and investigative processes before the Commission, and he as Commissioner, could have derived some degree of satisfaction for the work for which the Commission was mandated.

He reiterated “some degree of satisfaction”, because he affirms that there is yet much more to be done. He said: “We discovered that the more we dug, the more dirt came up, but we had to stop at some point.”

The Inquiry formally began in Sept of 2008 and concluded in May, 2009. However, several factors, one of them being criminal activities on the part of person or persons employed at City Hall, constrained a continuation of the investigations of the Commission.

Mr. Burrowes presented to the Minister the Report of the Burrowes Commission of Inquiry into the Operations of the Georgetown City Council in three volumes.

Volume 1 reveals the comprehensive nature of the investigations conducted, the extent of non-adherence to transparent systems in Administrative and operational methodologies, and the culpability of key administrative figures in questionable actions relative to the municipality’s accounting system.

Volume 11 establishes benchmarks for performance, as well as defines indicators for various service delivery areas. The benchmark for performance standards was established as a consequence of the absence of data to assist in determining the effectiveness of the work of the Council.

Volume 111 identifies research documentation sources and records the number of meetings – public and private, conducted by the Commission.
It lists the members of civil society who made presentations, as well as records the officers of the Mayoralty and members of the executive staff who made submissions and/or responded to the Commission’s request for information.

A summary of key recommendations emerged from the Inquiry, primary among which is the removal of several senior management personnel.

The suggestion of an Annual Report, for which a non-partisan, non-political body comprising members of civil society will have oversight, is an attempt to prevent a recurrence of the variables that contributed to the decline of the Georgetown municipality.

There has been absolute non-compliance to zoning laws, which were established by Statute, and while the Commission recognizes that the prevailing anarchy is entrenched in the national psyche, it hopes with optimism that a monitoring body will be established to ensure that the zoning laws will be adhered to in the future in an attempt to bring some order in the social construct and comfort to the peaceful and law-abiding citizens of the land.

In an invited comment, Mr Burrowes said that, while the Commission recognizes that the Government needs to address the issue of rates and taxes, it did not discover a climate that will encourage trust and build bridges of cooperation in the interest of the populace.

He continued: “Without reservations I can ascribe the current problems obtaining at City Hall to a severe lack of good governance and poor leadership as a result of inherent disunity within the administrative construct.

“This Commission evolved out of a spirit of consensus, proving consensus is possible when all the parties work toward the same eventuality.

“Without the requisite consensus and unity within the administrative configuration the functionality of the Council has been severely compromised, to the extent where a breeding ground for skullduggery has been created, and this has caused the junior staff members to manipulate the situation to their own benefit.

“I have not found the decline of the Georgetown municipality to be attributable to political manipulations, but to the poor leadership and an unbelievable level of complacency.

“The restoration of the municipality is only possible with an overhaul of attitudes and systems, not by blaming the political administration for the woes at City Hall.

“It is what is called a cop-out. The Georgetown municipality is salvageable, but this has to be driven by its leadership, who have proven before that they have the leadership skills.

“But no-one can rest on their laurels and blame everyone else but their own lack of will and ineptness for their failure. Success only comes with honest endeavour – and I am stressing on “honest”, because that is the only configuration that will drive success.”

Volume 1 also contains recommendations to reconstruct the operational configurations of the municipality to effect more efficient administrative and operational methodologies.

Throughout the investigation and the compilation of the Report, Green has sung a litany of complaints via the media on the length of time the report was taking to be completed.

However, he as good as apologized to the commissioner when he publicly stated that the Report was a comprehensive document that dealt in depth with the issues that have been plaguing the Municipality for decades.

These sentiments were repeated by the Deputy Mayor, Robert Williams, at a press conference he hosted at City Hall on Thursday last, deputizing for Mayor Green, who was on a visit to Seoul.

Williams said that the M&CC is awaiting the Minister’s pronouncements on the document.