MINISTER in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development Norman Whittaker has debunked claims by Georgetown’s Mayor Hamilton Green that the ministry has not been supportive of the efforts of the Town Council.

Addressing the press, Minister Whittaker said the ministry has been very encouraging of the council’s efforts to deliver improved services to residents of Georgetown. What has been very noticeable, he said, has been the ministry’s support of the Council’s effort to collect, transport and dispose of waste, an undertaking that Minister Whittaker pointed out has been shored up by several other ministries including Natural Resources and the Environment, Public Works and Tourism, Industry and Commerce.
Whittaker said that the assistance with the City’s waste is in recognition of the health and environmental concern that it poses to the residents and its effect economically on the country, especially with regards to tourism.
Whittaker questioned Mayor Green’s cries about the council’s lack of revenue, noting that the council has been receiving double the normal subvention allocated to the other five municipalities. Georgetown receives a total of $20M every year in subvention from the ministry towards the implementation of programmes for the benefit of the City’s residents.
He also pointed out that the ministry has since drawn to the council’s attention over 100 properties that should be paying commercial rates and not residential rates to the council. The properties identified should be classified as commercial but, Minister Whittaker said that for reasons best known to the council they continue to classify these properties as residential denying the council revenue and services to the residents they serve.
Whittaker said that since the recent break-in to stalls at the Stabroek and Bourda markets, the ministry has reached out to the council asking for a report in an effort to render some assistance, but none has been submitted.
He assured however, that the ministry will continue to reach out and work with the council in good faith and in recognition that the public will hold the ministry accountable, as the oversight entity, when the council fails to deliver on some of its responsibility. “We will continue to work with them, (City Council) those who are still there and those who will join because we ultimately have the responsibility. When all is said and done the Guyanese public and you the press will say to us you ultimately are responsible for ensuring that the city looks better than it looks,” he said.