Mayor says local gov’t body’s request to Town Clerk out of order

-after request for info on disciplinary action against city pump attendants

Maintaining that the City Council is trying its best to manage the capital’s drainage system, Mayor Ubraj Narine on Friday rebuffed a request by the Local Government Commission for full disclosure on actions taken against any pump attendants whose negligence may have contributed to flooding.

On Thursday, the Local Government Commission wrote acting Town Clerk Sherry Jerrick and requested that she provide information within 24 hours on actions taken against pump attendants whose negligence may have contributed to flooding in many areas around Georgetown.

At a press conference yesterday, Narine maintained that the Local Government Commission does not have the authority to instruct the Town Clerk of the council as he suggested that the body was trying to dictate to the staff of the Mayor of City Council.

“The Commission want to run the day-to-day affairs of the council,” he said, while warning it against going down that road.

The commission’s letter cited the underperformance of pump attendants at pump stations under the remit of the Council, saying that this was observed during a visit by the President and the Minister of Agriculture to the pump stations within Georgetown.

In addition to the action taken against negligent pump attendants, the Commission also asked the Town Clerk to state what plans, if any, would be put in place to address the current and future flooding of the city.

Narine yesterday suggested that the letter was part of an attempt to victimize the staff of the Council, which he said would not be allowed.

Additionally, Narine addressed remarks made Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha, who suggested that should there be a point where the government has to take over the city’s drainage system in the city, there would be a plan to manage it.

Narine stated that the Council will not give up its assets as he explained that it is trying its very best to have the system at the needed standard. However, he added that everything calls for revenue.

He also noted that while the Central Government and Minister Mustapha were nitpicking the way the city was managing the flooding, no questions are being asked in the other regions where the flooding situation is more intense. “Why not focus on them and the sluices there?” he asked.

Narine disclosed that they are certain areas in the city that flood whenever it rains but the council continues to work to reduce the water.

He asked that officials meet with him to have discussions on how to restructure the drainage system in the city.

Addressing a meeting between the Council and a government delegation on Thursday, he said his intention was to discuss solutions to problems but instead he encountered what he termed a blame game and additional conflict.

A delegation comprising government ministers and other officials met with the mayor and other city officers at the Ministry of Agriculture’s boardroom citing concern over the recent flash flooding in Georgetown.

The government had demanded that pump attendants be better supervised and held accountable where they are found to be negligent.

Agriculture Minister Mustapha subsequently told a media briefing that the meeting was held as the government is very concerned after the flooding experienced on Tuesday and Wednesday and he argued that the amount of rainfall experienced should not have affected the city to the extent that it did.

The minister said to their dismay it was observed that there is no supervision of the equipment and the operators. Instead, he said, it is being left to operators to determine when and if the sluices and the pumps will be operated.

Mustapha added that the government is making the resources available to the council and pointed out that it increased the capacity of the town through three additional pumps in November of last year, while ensuring that all the sluices are serviced.

Additionally, Mustapha disclosed that during a late night visit on Wednesday the technical persons who were there to monitor the pumps found out that the pump at Young Street was turned off and the sluice closed, hindering drainage work. Two other pumps were also turned off and the operators were absent.

Narine again stressed that from 2015 to 2019 the government and the municipality worked together. He also made mention of the subventions that were given to each constituency to cater for works such as repairing of bridges, installing of street lights, drainage works and more by the then government.

“The M&CC requires over a billion dollars annually to clear and maintain the drainage canals and kokers, and over 500 million dollars to maintain the pumps. The municipality collects just over 700 million dollars annually in taxes of which 264 million dollars are required to dispose of residential and commercial solid waste,” he said in a statement, while also noting the need for changing the city bylaws to increase revenue collection in order to enable the council to adequately fulfil its mandate.

He also accused the PPP administration of undermining the municipality and added that he sees the issue of the sluices and kokers as a political game and a political sabotage of the lives of city residents. He again asked that the government work with the council for the betterment of the city.