PERSONNEL Officer at the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Ms Paulette Braithwaite, has rescinded a letter she sent to Public Relations Officer Royston King that sought to confirm his appointment as town clerk by City Councillors.
Acting Town Clerk Yonnette Pluck, who made the disclosure to this newspaper yesterday, said the personnel officer probably had second thoughts on the matter and recognised that someone else should have sent the letter.
Pluck said she wishes to inform the public that any transaction conducted by King on behalf of the council is illegitimate.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr. Nigel Dharamlall, has said that King should desist from portraying himself as the town clerk or he will have to face the consequences.
From the level of the ministry and government, Dharamlall said, only Pluck is recognized as the town clerk. “King is trying to usurp the functions of the town clerk…that is illegitimate,” he remarked.
According to him, the appointment of a new panel to pick the town clerk is still in progress though the various bodies to serve on it have already been nominated by the minister.
The panel will reportedly consist of a representative of the Georgetown Municipality, one from the Local Government Ministry, one from Guyana Labour Union (GLU), one from Guyana Local Government Officers Union (GLGOU) and one from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Dharamlall said Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green has indicated his concurrence with the decision of Minister Kellawan Lall not to grant the request by City Hall.
The permanent secretary said being town clerk is a figment of King’s imagination and that it is really a charade that he is putting on.
Commenting on the decision of city councillors to appoint King, Dharamlall said the council’s recommendation to have King installed has not been approved. “The process was flawed and inconsistent,” he said.
The appointment of King was the subject of a heated debate among councillors at their last statutory meeting in February, and Mayor Green had suggested that there be an inquiry into the character of the applicants, but this was never done. As such, the Mayor had reported that he was not surprised at the position taken by Minister Lall.
The posts of town clerk and city treasurer were advertised both internally and externally, with several persons applying for the former and one for the latter. The four applicants who were interviewed for the town clerk’s post were King, Mr. John Bishop, Mr. Ron Eastman and Ms. Carol Sooba.
The lone applicant for the city treasurer job declined to attend a scheduled interview and Mr. Andrew Meredith will remain functioning in that capacity.
Minister Lall said the motion passed by the City Council to have King installed with immediate effect was null and void.
At a press conference he held to address the issue, Lall stated: “The motion collides with the Municipal and District Councils Act. You cannot appoint someone with immediate effect when, in fact, you have to make a recommendation to the minister…I cannot understand why this motion was allowed. It cannot stand scrutiny.”
King could not be contacted yesterday for a comment.