Dear Editor
IT is not funny that members of the Local Government Commission (LGC) seem to think that they can disregard the request of the Minister of Communities and run to the press to put out their side of a story. It is a mark of disrespect and I hope the minister deals with this crassness. More importantly, I believe that there should be a proper investigation into the workings of this LGC. Something seems very odd with this newly minted commission. It has not yet completed a year, but it is embroiled with this controversy. The situation must be arrested now.

However, two things struck me as I read a report in the Guyana Times on this matter attributed to the General-Secretary of the AFC, Marlon Williams, on Thursday, February 14, 2019. First, the commission is apparently oblivious to where it falls in the scheme of things, in the system of local governance in Guyana; it is heady and running beyond itself. The commission as a statutory body with limited powers cannot do as it very well pleases. It has reporting responsibilities to the Minister of Communities. It must be accountable and act responsibly, thereby setting a good example for the local government organs for which it has oversight responsibilities.

According to media reports, for more than three weeks the Ministry of Communities had requested certain documents, but the commission failed to submit same. This along is much cause for concern. Seems to me that the commission is not interested in what the ministry wants; members are pursuing their own agendas. But what could anyone expect when there are three commissioners from the PPP/C side, Ms. Carol Sooba, Mr. Norman Whittaker and Mr. Clinton Collymore, all of whom presided over the degrading of Guyana’s capital. The track records of those individuals demonstrate that they allowed Georgetown to fall into a ruinous condition because they had their own agenda – degrade Georgetown because it is the stronghold of the PNC/R.

Their collective attitude has not changed and in a very subtle way they are attempting to embarrass the Minster of Communities by going public on this matter, when they full well know that they are required to follow certain procedures Surprisingly, the APNU+AFC commissioners are going along with this plan to bring the minister to public ridicule. But if the commission is functioning as it ought to, then there should be no difficulty for it to submit its work plan and a cash flow to the ministry. After all, the commission is making all sorts of demands of municipalities.

Second, under what financial system is the Local Government Commission spending 91 per cent of its total budgetary allocation on wages and salaries. How much money is being paid to commissioners? I believe the public has a right to know because this is money from the public purse supported by taxpayers. It is ridiculously financially imprudent for the LGC to whimsically pay out all of its money in salaries. But this raises another fundamental question: what do commissioners do to earn the hefty sums they have been paying themselves? Because they have apportioned only about nine per cent of its budget for operational and associated costs. Another serious question is who is really managing and monitoring the work of this commission?

No other commission in this country is doing that. In fact, the stipends given to commissioners of other commissions, example, the Public Service Commission, Police Service Commission, Lands Commission and boards are very small. How is it that this LGC is paying itself so much? Perhaps, it sees itself superior to all other commissions.
And when one sees and hears Mr. Marlon Williams in the media, one must wonder whether the AFC has learned anything from the Charrandass Persaud saga. Individual members of the AFC continue to behave insensitively to the political reality of the day. It is a shame.
Regards
Daniel Fischer