Sterner action required at City Hall

Dear Editor,
THERE is a popular quotation that says, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,’ which is exactly the circumstances with the Audit Office of Guyana (AOG) and the mayor and councillors of the city of Georgetown. Does the AOG really believe that the administration of the Georgetown municipality will turn over the requisite financial documents for examination?

For well over two decades now there has not been anything resembling audited, qualified accounts being produced by the Georgetown municipality and made public for scrutiny by citizens as is required by the law. It is a free for all at the council with the billions of dollars raked in yearly from the citizens and from central government, which is then spent willy-nilly.

At first it was thought by many that this may have been due to pure incompetence, unskilfulness, torpor and inanity; but by now it must be recognised by the smallest child that is due simply to fraud, corruption and duplicity.

When will the AOG realise that the administration of the Georgetown municipality will never and maybe can never produce the documents they require for examination, as most of them may have already have been deliberately destroyed, stashed into a secret hiding place or currently being doctored to get it right.
The administration of the council ought not be dismissed as being so naïve as to hand over the documents required, as this would leave them in one of only two choices: to either head for the hills and never look back, or surrender to law- enforcement authorities and face the consequences.
It is mind boggling that the Ministry of Communities, the Local Government Commission and the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown among other agencies, would disregard and overlook, if not condone this unlawful and criminal behaviour by the administration of the council.
It was nothing short of shocking to learn via the press that a senior functionary of the Local Government Commission announced that culpable officers of the Georgetown municipality would not be fired in spite of strong recommendations of disciplinary action to be taken against them by the Commission of Inquiry.

Even worse, these officers who were found responsible for fraudulent action, abuse of power and authority and other aspects of maladministration at City Hall are being promoted, being confirmed in their substantive posts in which they are acting so poorly in and being given new appointments to nice cushy jobs in an already top-heavy municipality. It must be remembered however that in spite of the death of one member and the firing of the other from the ‘Fantastic Four,’ there still remains the other two members who hold prominent positions in the pivotal Finance and Human Resource Committees of the Council.
I want to know why the reluctance by the AOG, the Local Government Commission, and the mayor and councillors of the City of Georgetown to call in the police to bring an end to the charade, the travesty and the circus at City Hall.

Best regards,
Deodarie Putulall

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