GEORGETOWN Mayor Hamilton Green, on Wednesday declared that he will not be removed from office by anyone. Mayor Green said that, like the Council, he was placed in that position “by the people.”
Green made the comment at a hastily called M&CC statutory meeting at the Council’s head quarters following rumours that Central Government was moving to install an Interim Management Committee to replace the Council, and that the move was going to be effective yesterday.
Green said it was the people who had placed him there, and if the government wants to remove him, its officers must follow the due process and have proper consultation. The Mayor said he and the Council will reject, by any means, any intention to install an interim management committee at City Hall.
Admitting that the information that an IMC was to be installed on Wednesday was still unconfirmed and unclear to him, the Mayor nevertheless said that any such move will be another attempt by the government to interfere with a democratic process.
Green said the Council only recently voted against a councillor’s proposal that mirrored the very rumour which was disclosed on Wednesday He commented that the initiative appeared to have been orchestrated by the Office of the President.
Green warned that if there was any truth to the rumour, it meant that there were attempts to remove a duly elected council, and that would not be easy sailing. He said the Council of Georgetown is “no choir or some small village.”
“It’s a capital, and there are serious issues involved; and the proposed IMC move without proper consultation will be a violation of the democratic principles of local government,” the mayor disclosed.
According to Green, the move by the Burrowes Commission to send personnel to City Hall to monitor the operations and work of senior officers is nothing more than micromanaging and a violation of the local government principles. He added that the Council of the City of Georgetown will, by all means, resist the move to install an IMC.
Meanwhile, word that an IMC was being installed on Wednesday to replace the City Council did not take long to make the rounds. Within minutes, workers who had earlier lambasted the Council for monies owed to them converged with other concerned citizens at City Hall in support of the Council headed by Mayor Green.
The vociferous crowd shouted pro-City Council slogans, while other chanted slogans which were anti-IMC. The group also shouted the names of various senior Council officials. “We want Royston King!” “We want Hammy!” and the list went on.
Behaving quite orderly in the circumstances, the crowd began behaving unruly when parties of police officers stormed the City Hall compound from the Charlotte Street entrance and began taking up positions at strategic points within the compound.
The crowd was of the view that the situation was not one that called for police presence, since the people gathered were all supportive of the Council.
However, this publication observed that despite robust police presence, officers attached to the City Constabulary were manning the gates and actually calling the shots on the ground, while the police stood as a back-up in their various positions.
Yesterday’s talk of an IMC replacement for the City Council also saw the presence of APNU Member of Parliament Christopher Jones descending on City Hall. Mayor Greene informed the media and the other councillors that, following the news, he had contacted the two opposition political parties and briefed them on the situation. He said that both of the parties had expressed dismay at the development, and had promised to address the issue.