…challenges Stabroek News to produce letter stating otherwise
MINISTER within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Norman Whittaker, yesterday said that Keith Burrowes remains head of the Implementation Committee (IC) that was set up to look into the operations of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC). Whittaker spoke at a press conference at the ministry’s, Fort Street, Kingston,office and he drew attention to a “very misleading” article that was published in yesterday’s edition of the Stabroek News, that named Ramon Gaskin as head of the committee.
The writer of that article claimed to have seen a letter, signed by Whittaker, to the effect that Gaskin was appointed to that position; but the minister circulated the letter to the press, which said that a few persons will physically be at city hall to ensure that the recommendations of the report are carried out.
Whittaker described this move as another intervention that the ministry has taken to assist the council in improving its services to citizens.
The letter said that a number of persons, well-known citizens, two of whom are already on the implementation committee, that is, Kevin Sukhdeo and Sandra Prince, will be joined by Ramon Gaskin and that will be a small committee that will be working at City Hall with the administration to accelerate the pace of implementation of the recommendations of the IC.
The minister pointed out that because the members of the committee are in full-time employment, the recommendations could not be implemented at the pace that was desired. Also, he said the members have not been getting the kind of cooperation they wished from City Hall.
“So we have this small committee that met with the mayor, deputy mayor, town clerk and treasurer Tuesday. They have all endorsed this move by the ministry, and they see it as advancing the work of the IC, and so these persons will be there, but will be reporting to Burrowes, who remains the head of the IC,” Whittaker said.
Burrowes said he has put a lot of work into preparing the report and hence wants to ensure that the recommendations are implemented. The government also, he noted, is of this same view.
According to Burrowes, a meeting was held with City Hall officials last Wednesday, which was aimed at flushing out any issues that were lingering. None could be foreseen at this time, he offered.
“Our concern is to ensure that conditions in the city are acceptable to citizens and our focus is on improving services being offered,” he noted.
Burrowes said, perhaps, Stabroek News can produce the letter which they claimed to have seen to the effect that Gaskin was now head of the IC.