Dear Editor
FROM all the constant, negative reports that have been emanating over the years from the Georgetown municipality and more so now, such as the late payment of salaries to employees each and every month; the withholding of their NIS contributions, income tax deductions and credit union dues; the non-payment of pensions and gratuities when they retire; the non-issuance of uniforms and protective gear; the firing of whistle blowers; discrimination with remuneration and promotions, etc., etc. it is logical to assume that hardly anyone would want to set foot in City Hall, let alone be employed or be associated with that entity.

But I wish to say that it is not only doom and gloom there, as in fact there are a lot of rags-to-riches stories. A few persons there are now enjoying lifestyles of the rich and the famous, or should I say the rich and the notorious where they go way beyond champagne wishes and caviar dreams and are living in the lap of luxury. It is indeed a pity that Robin Leach has passed, or he might have wanted to do a story on City Hall.

Where else could a political leader who just a mere three years ago used taxis and other forms of public transportation to get where they wanted to go, move to overnight acquiring a Mercedes Benz luxury sedan and an expensive Pontiac roadster to cruise around town in?
Where else could a senior administrator, who was squatting in a shack on the municipal reserve and from being unable to meet his mortgage payments, move to purchasing several luxury homes in and out of the city at the drop of a hat?

Where else could a few persons who not so long ago were considered the ‘Lumpen proletariat,’ suddenly be surrounded by bodyguards, chauffeurs, personal assistants, and other underlings, and now being seen regularly dining at ritzy restaurants and sipping the most expensive wines?

Where else could you find persons who might have encountered difficulty in the past finding the airport, suddenly becoming jet setters; winging around the world first class; shopping at high-end malls; investing overseas and picking up expensive toys and trophies from the most exotic destinations in the world. Where else could a small money lender and dhal puri vendor in the municipal markets become one of the biggest and wealthiest

contractors overnight, just by merely being a friend of the folk at City Hall and getting all of the municipal contracts without bidding for them? Thanks to the Commission of Inquiry, TV, social media, paparazzi with telephoto lenses, the newspapers and Instagram, we realise that the council is not as needy and deprived as we were being led to believe.
Regards
Kwasi Sanderson