CITY Treasurer (ag), John Douglas, on Monday, said the new operations at Republic Bank Limited are ‘holding up’ work in his department, resulting in him submitting late reports to Town Clerk (ag), Sherry Jerrick.

It was at the fortnightly statutory meeting of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) that Jerrick complained that unlike other department heads, Douglas was not submitting reports within the timeframe that is required.

While Douglas has put forward the excuse that the bank was taking long to send statements, Jerrick said she had asked him both verbally and in writing to prove that he has taken action with the matter by writing to the bank.

Even if the bank statements are not forthcoming, Jerrick argued that just as an ordinary person can walk into the bank and uplift a statement, so could Douglas.

Douglas explained that since the bank changed operations, there have been challenges with them supplying information as usual. He said he did write to them explaining the hold up, and noted that he cannot prepare his reports if he does not receive the statements.
He asked for the council to show him consideration, as he noted that it is not his wish to be disrespectful to the town clerk.

Councillor Patricia Chase-Green said this was the second time that she was hearing of the treasurer’s blatant refusal to follow instructions. “Is he bigger than the town clerk? He’s answerable to her. He cannot be sending back files to her and refusing to follow instructions.”

Mayor Ubraj Narine told Jerrick that as the town clerk, it is her duty to deal with her officers in the appropriate way.

Meanwhile, at the last statutory meeting, disciplinary action was announced against Douglas and a host of other officers for the respective roles they played in the controversial issue surrounding money found in the former chief constable’s vehicle.

Douglas received one month’s suspension. Because budget discussions have already started, the council moved a motion that the town clerk write to the Local Government Commission seeking to have the suspension deferred.

Jerrick will write asking the LGC to allow Douglas to proceed on his one month no-pay suspension in March, when all budget preparations are expected to be concluded.
A bag containing cash belonging to the M&CC was found inside the vehicle assigned to Chief Constable, Andrew Foo, and the LGC was subsequently called in to launch an investigation.

The mayor had told the Guyana Chronicle that according to information he received, the money was being kept in the vehicle, PVV 1405, for quite some time. He could not state how much money was in the bag, or who found it and reported the matter.
According to him, the bag found was one that contains a ‘lock’ or M&CC seal. It is for this reason that it could be confirmed that the money belongs to the council.