…to discuss 2011Budget
THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown, in collaboration with the Implementation Committee (IC), will host a stakeholder meeting to discuss the 2011 Budget at the Imperial Banquet Hall on Brickdam at 18:00hrs tomorrow. Chairman of the IC, Mr.Keith Burrowes, made this announcement during a press briefing yesterday and noted that the event is aimed at encouraging discussions among several stakeholders who are critical to the functioning of the council.
He said, “The Mayor and City Council Budget is now being finalised and so the meeting is to get the input of the various stakeholders, and will see a number of Private Sector and Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) bodies being present to get a sense of what the council plans to do this year and to be able to identify ways in which they can support the council’s work.
More than 70 persons have been invited to attend the meeting; and according to Mr. Burrowes, this list is representative of a wide cross-section of society.
He pointed out that the IC has been supportive of the council’s work throughout the year and has rendered assistance in key areas, including technical support, human resources support, IT support, and support with equipment and supplies.
“The IC has discovered, over the years, that when the budget is prepared, the resources are usually not adequate to conduct most of the Council’s activities; and during our work; what we did was try to streamline the critical activities which need to be performed consistent with their mandate and their non-core activities,” Burrowes explained.
This process established certain benchmarks so that the council would be clear on what needed to be done, the IC Chairman noted.
In addition, Burrowes lauded the efforts of the Private Sector in fulfilling its role as advocates for the council’s policies and programmes.
“They have become part of the advocacy, and we have invited representatives from Mothers in Black, which has been one of the most effective NGOs in dealing with advocacy,” he opined.
As to the implications of tomorrow’s meeting, he said, “Several issues were raised (when the budget was presented to the council) including seeing where gaps can be filled in areas where we have deficits, and hopefully we will be able to bring this out and to determine what kind of support these organisations could grant.”
Once this is concluded, then the council will have a review of the budget, and it will then be sent to the Minister of Local Government, Kellawan Lall, for approval.
“The council does recognize that there are certain actions that they need to take to continue to make itself viable,” he stated.
As to how the council will progress in this respect, Burrowes pointed out that they, as the statutory body, will have to make those decisions.

In addition, Burrowes stressed that persons should not underestimate the roles of the City Council and Central Government, and he urged members of the media to foster an ongoing relationship with the M&CC so that the public will get a better appreciation of the constraints facing the council.