Dear Editor,
WITH this recent massive robbery that was committed on a popular jewellery store at the Stabroek Market, a heist that could rival ‘The Great Train Robbery’ that occurred in 1963 from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London, the citizens of Georgetown should expect nothing less than the immediate tendering of resignations of the Mayor of Georgetown, the Town Clerk, the Chief Constable and the Clerk of Markets.

Of course this will never happen as those at City Hall cheerfully stumble from one scandal to another without any reprimand ever being meted out against them. The role of the City Constabulary seems to be only that of body protection, for securing of the multiple residences of the Mayor, the Town Clerk and other members of the cabal, in and out of the city, and chasing vendors around downtown Georgetown, whilst the poor vendors and patrons in and around the municipal markets are robbed with impunity on a daily basis.

What is the real purpose of the City Constabulary which has well over 100 employees and about five stations in Georgetown which, according to the Town Clerk, has the same power as the national police (GPF) in the maintenance of law and order in this country? Couldn’t they simply use these extensive powers to guard the markets?

He proudly boasts that his Constabulary is responsible for policing the entire 15-square mile area of the capital city with its approximately 180,000 citizens, and that they are also empowered to protect citizens as they patrol the city. Does this include the Stabroek and other municipal markets which are burgled on a daily basis?

Instead, all we hear from the City Constabulary are reports that their ranks are allegedly involved in deviant sex with juvenile detainees and cover ups, of firearms going missing from stations, of senior officers beating their paramours senseless when intoxicated, of missing bail and proficiency fund monies and of their patrol vehicles being misused to drop schoolchildren around. The Mayor and Concillors of the City of Georgetown should be ashamed of themselves and should hang their heads when they see citizens.

They have been raising market stall rents, property rates, licence fees and certificate charges, solid waste collection costs, yet the municipal markets have leaky roofs, are dark and rat infested, and insecure, the abattoir is dilapidated and barely able to slaughter animals for consumption as food, the Day Care Centers are being shuttered, City Hall and most other municipal buildings [is] in a most ruinous condition, there is no municipal swimming pool or other recreational facilities, and the cemetery a national disgrace to name a few. Mr. President, it isn’t this jewellery the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back? Should there not be a Commission of Inquiry launched at City Hall.

Regards
Kwasi Sanderson