The Georgetown municipality is setting an embarrassingly bad example of governance

Dear Editor, Some may not have noticed, but the Mayoralty and City Councillors of Georgetown is easily the oldest institution of its kind in the history of local government in Guyana, followed by New Amsterdam.

The others – Corriverton, Rose Hall Town, Linden and Charity, followed much later; not to mention the very recently established institutions since 2015.

It should be of concern therefore that after more than a hundred years of experience in overseeing the growth of our first town, the last two decades have been marked by an unprecedented display of mismanagement; and while many may argue, not unjustifiably, that much of this institution’s under-productivity was a result of hostile political interventions, the more fundamental reasons for its persistent under-performance are embedded in the total break-down of every management and operational system that had been established earlier. This has been essentially compounded by the application of mediocre skills (?), resulting from a recruitment process that would hardly be acceptable in other organisations of whatever kind.

In fact the M&CC can hardly be described as an organised business institution.

Those who have witnessed its disaggregation over the last two decades would have noticed how much of it has surrounded the pivotal position of Town Clerk, every incumbent of which has been known for her/his egocentricity – largely because of how the Municipal and District Councils Act, 1969 is worded .

The authority and virtual independence

assigned to the Town Clerk of the Mayor and Councillors, was partly due to the cordiality which obtained in the political relationship between the national government and local government of the day. There was also recognition at the time of such attributes as principle, integrity and professionalism, all which have been substantively degraded.

Citizens, as well as the Minister of Communities, should refer back to the investigation conducted by the Auditor General, which resulted in the demittal of the then Town Clerk and the Treasurer. The report could be retrieved form the Audit Office of Guyana, for re-examination in order to identify the deep faultlines that were discovered, and obviously still exist.

Then there was the very comprehensive Report of the Inquiry into the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown, by the Keith Burrowes’ Commission in 2009, which is still eminently implementable today.

The urgency of this appeal for a review by the powers that be, is instigated by the concern for the embarrassingly bad example of governance being set by the nation’s oldest municipality to colleague municipalities. The oversight Ministry of Communities cannot afford to run the risks of the less experienced institutions emulating the tragi-comedy of its elders, in the belief that the bad habits of the under-performance of that council, and misdirection of the Town Clerk, are in the least acceptable.

All of us are entitled to, and must demand, a much higher level of governance from all the inter-related parties. It is for all the above reasons and more that appointees to the overdue Local Government Commission must be appropriately informed professionals, particularly in the areas of organisation development, human resources management, and, alas, financial management.

Yours faithfully, E B John