Dear Editor,
I was very impressed with the candor and perspicacity attributed to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, in which he was reported as saying that the Board of the Central Housing & Planning Authority (CH&PA) was dissolved because the ‘rancor’ between it and the agency staff, which had resulted in very little work being done, and in fact only 20 percent of its budgetary allocation last year being spent to carry out its obligations.
It is only with truthful assessments and swift affirmative action like this would the ship of state be kept from running aground, and in fact set sail into the sea of success. This is utterly commendable and should be roundly applauded by all.
Had the same progressive action been taken at City Hall in 1997, with the elected officials, whose mandate by the citizens had come to an end, and for which incidentally the leadership there then, and the leadership of the CH&PA’s last board were the same, Georgetown would have been a much better place to live, work and visit.
It would now be the responsibility of the new CEO and board to look to retrieving some of the experienced and knowledgeable resources that were chased out of the agency over the last year, acquiring fresh new talent and just as important cleaning the Augean stables of the thugs and lackeys that were inserted into the agency.
The opportunity should not be lost in recognizing the sterling contributions made by Mr. Bert Carter, a man of enormous character and wisdom who was on the last board and whose offerings and influences on the CH&PA were incomparable and invaluable. It can only be hoped that his skill and intellect would still be available to the agency.
Regards
Shanta Singh