Mahdia loses confidence in Town Clerk weeks after appointment

The Mayor and Town Councillors of Mahdia, Region Eight, has refuted allegations that race or youth influenced the decision to terminate the services of 21-year-old Town Clerk, Hakeem Wong.

Wong, who happens to be the stepson of Mahdia businessman, Roger Hinds, was hired on April 1, last to be the Town Clerk of that brandnew town. Within days, he was clashing with the council, Mayor David Adams. It was not long before the Local Government Commission was involved and asked to intervene. Wong reportedly claimed that he was targeted because he was young and that he was an Indian. However, Adams, who hails from the farming islands of Wakenaam, Essequibo Islands, was adamant that those factors played no role. He explained that Mahdia Town Council started operations on January 1, after being named a town last year. The administration immediately advertised for staffers, including for a Town Clerk. “We had little resources. The qualification for a Town Clerk position is a Bachelor’s Degree.

The Town Council took a deliberate decision to recruit persons from the township of Mahdia itself as then we did not have to find accommodation. The idea was that we would train and build capacity.” Adams said that a number of the persons hired for the Town Council did not meet the criteria. During his first week, the Town Clerk was tasked with organizing a special meeting to discuss a number of internal matters of the council.

He, however, went ahead and invited the public. According to Adams, the Town Clerk insisted that the public be invited because the laws say so. However, the Mayor noted that the laws also allow for the public not to be present when certain matters are being discussed. During that meeting, there was a clash, in the presence of a Member of Parliament, Gloria Bancroft. “I called him the next week and guided him in his responsibilities and he said he won’t do it again. The very next week, there was another meeting and there was the same attitude of defiance and disrespect. We told him if this is the disrespect so early in the tenure then we would be unwilling to work with him. He asked on what grounds.” According to Mayor Adams, Wong was unable to comprehend that he was still on his three months of probation.

(Kaieteur News)