…Councillor Duncan sends notice for motion to be tabled

ALLIANCE for Change (AFC) City Councillor and former Deputy Mayor, Sherod Duncan has submitted a motion of no confidence against Town Clerk Royston King on Monday, which was seconded by Deputy Mayor Lionel Jaikarran.

The motion, which cities a number of shortcomings on the part of King, will be tabled at the next statutory meeting to be convened on March 12.
The Town Clerk alerted the City Council to the motion and subsequently passed it on to Mayor Patricia Chase-Green, who then declared that the said motion will not be allowed to hold up the meeting’s agenda.

Duncan, in the motion circulated to the press, said the Municipal and District Councils Act, which governs the City, places on every councillor a responsibility and duty to ensure that the municipality is managed in a professional and competent manner by a qualified Town Clerk.

“His Excellency President David Granger, when he visited City Hall, told the Council that we are not on the City Council to represent our political parties but to represent the people; Town Clerk Royston King has acted outside the interests of the citizens of Georgetown and has shown a total disregard for the [Act] which adumbrates the role of the Town Clerk and Council and sets the latter as the supreme decision-making body at the municipal level for the City of Georgetown,” the motion says.

It refers to the removal of the vendors from the Stabroek Market and Robb Street environs in 2016 and 2017 without the authorization of Council, which subsequently brought “great distress and hardship” on the vendors and which situation saw Central Government intervening; reiterating that vendors ought to be treated with sensitivity; President David Granger describing the latter’s action as “reckless.”

The motion also cites King’s actions in connection with the controversial parking meter project. “The contract for the Metered Parking System for Georgetown before being signed was not laid before the Council; and said contract did not derive from the tender and procurement procedure as per Chap. 28:01, among other defects, described by Central Government as onerous, burdensome, ignorant, and exploitative.”
The motion further said that Central Government has had cause to call out the police to protect citizens from City Hall and its operatives who were enforcing the bylaws of said parking system.

“Councillors have made several inquiries/requests of the Town Clerk for specific information relating to the business of Council and have had no responses; in particular, Councillor Gregory Fraser’s request for the minutes showing where the former Council is alleged to have agreed to the Metered Parking System for Georgetown.”

Furthermore, the motion speaks to the implementation of the container fee, which it said was unknown to Council, and a subsequent unilateral decision by King to block certain businesses that were unwilling to comply with the demands he made on them, as they questioned the fee’s legality; and a competent court subsequently throwing out several cases brought against City businesses on the premise that the M&CC had no right to charge such a fee.

Restoration Fund

According to the motion, the Auditor General’s report of 2016/2017 illustrates that the $300M given by Central Government for the Georgetown Restoration Programme could not be properly accounted for, among other issues and allied matters, and which recently led to the announcement of a forensic audit at City Hall.

“There has been a wanton abuse of ‘Emergency Clause’ under Section 234 ‘Variation of tender procedure in cases of emergency’ to spend millions of dollars, and as a result of which the tendering process, as articulated by Chap. 28:01, has been abandoned altogether and use of which clause is calculated to subvert the authority of the City Works Committee and the power of the honorable Council;

“The general welfare of workers of the City Council continues to diminish under the tenure of the Town Clerk due to the chronic late payments of wages and salaries and other benefits, while deduction of monies from workers’ pay for NIS, PAYE etc. continue, but which are not transferred to the relevant agencies;
“There are large amounts of monies owed to companies and individuals for goods and services provided to the Municipality, with some businesses and individuals waiting for over a year for payments, with contracts entered into unilaterally, against the spirit and law, Chap 28:01;

“The general finances of City Council continue to be reported untimely and inaccurately to the Council under the stewardship of the Town Clerk who ultimately is the Chief Administrative Officer of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown,” the motion further stated.

It continued that the Town Clerk unilaterally decides when the Mayor is out of the jurisdiction, whether the Deputy Mayor or a Councillor can perform the functions of Mayor and what benefits and privileges should accrue to that said individual. Such actions, it said, have caused Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan to write to the Mayor a reprimand, stating, among other things, “There can be no doubt that the letter and spirit of the law contemplates that there must at all times be a Mayor within the jurisdiction of the municipality and common sense would reveal that this would more so apply to the capital city.”

The motion said the Town Clerk has unilaterally entered into an agreement with the company Impressions for the “lease” of numerous billboards and spaces these occupy, without the authorization of Council.

It further mentioned the firing of two officers of the City Constabulary with regards to an alleged sexual assault of a juvenile male who was at the time detained by the City Constabulary and on which firing the Mayor expressed that Her Worship was “misled” by the Town Clerk, and on which allied matters the Legal Affairs and Security Committee found the Town Clerk demonstrated poor judgement.

The “lease” of the Farnum Play Ground and the converting of the Bel Air Playground to an area for residential homes for himself and others, without the consent or knowledge of Council, were also listed in the motion.

The recent contract in excess of 125 million dollars awarded by the Town Clerk to Chung’s Global for the works to the Le Repentir Cemetery which were not derived from the tender and procurement procedures as per Chap. 28:01, or the authorization of Council, was also mentioned.

“The Town Clerk’s careless and reckless actions, though often guided otherwise by Council, when considered together are calculated to have caused irreparable damage to the image and goodwill of City Hall and the Coalition Government at Local Government before the residents of the municipality, among other considerations.”

Unethical

The Town Clerk told councillors on Monday that before he received a copy of the motion, it had already been shared with members of the press. “It is unethical that it was shared with the press long before council got a chance to look at it.”

“This is misconduct. Unless there’s a sinister motive, a hidden agenda, I see no reason this was done. This is damaging the reputation of the Council and undermining the authority of Council,” King continued.
Meanwhile, King refused to talk to the Guyana Chronicle following the statutory meeting, stressing that any comments he has to make will be through the Public Relations Department.