Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green yesterday expressed the hope that the findings of the City Hall Inquiry Report when disclosed will be used to lift the management of the city to another level and not for political purposes.
During a press conference held yesterday at City Hall, Green said that he indeed had some concerns about the length of time that the report had taken to be completed but nevertheless expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the Commissioner of the Inquiry Keith Burrowes, even as he raised concerns about the politicization of the inquiry.
Hamilton Green
According to the Mayor, while Burrowes may be “an honourable man”, he hopes that his work will not be compromised by any political agenda by those in authority. Green went on to state his displeasure about the manner in which the Guyana Chronicle had been reporting aspects of the inquiry as it related to City Hall. He said that the newspaper had been engaging in an unrelenting campaign to slander the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown. Burrowes is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana National Newspapers Ltd, which publishes the Guyana Chronicle. Green suggested that there may be a nexus between the position Burrowes holds and the stance that the newspaper has taken, an accusation that Burrowes strongly refuted yesterday in a telephone interview with this newspaper.
Burrowes emphasised that he had done the inquiry on a totally professional basis and that none of his other professional responsibilities affected how he conducted this inquiry. He also further stated that throughout the Inquiry, he has not had any political official or anyone else interfere with the process.
Meanwhile, the Mayor said that the reported fraud that had allegedly been “discovered” by the Commissioner had been exposed with assistance from him and other council members.
Burrowes, in response, said that he was surprised that the Mayor was trying to take credit for the discovery of the fraud, which had occurred since February 2008. He said that if Green had suspected the fraud, he should have addressed the problem.
According to Burrowes, the fraud is a symptom of bigger problems at City Hall and he stated that there may even be other frauds that were yet to be discovered. He said that instead of getting into political matters, the Mayor and the Council members would be better advised to focus on addressing the matters related to the effective functioning of the Council.
Deputy Mayor Robert Williams, meanwhile, stated that the completion of the report should be seen as the culmination of an effort made by City Hall to solve problems at the institution. According to Williams, it was the Municipality that approached the Minister of Local Government so that this inquiry could be conducted. He also pointed out that prior to this Inquiry City Hall had hired other consultants to conduct investigations into aspects of the affairs at the headquarters of the municipality.
He said that these efforts dated back to 1997. He said that over the years several recommendations made have been implemented.
Williams said that the City Council has already implemented some of the recommendations that would be identified in the report, especially issues related to the treasury department.
Commissioner of the Inquiry, Burrowes told members of the media on Monday that the report will be handed over to the Minister of Local Government Kellawan Lall on Friday. Burrowes said on Monday that he was prepared to release the report to the media if he had gotten permission from Lall.
He explained that the delay in handing over the report was primarily due to the fact that he had been dealing with a complex institution coupled with the fact that he wanted to ensure that the report would be comprehensive.
Burrowes disclosed that he was waiting on the report from the police on the suspected fraud estimated at over $3 million. He said that the findings of the police would enable him to make specific recommendations so as “to prevent any re-occurrence of a similar situation”. He, however, said that Friday is the deadline even if information from the police is not forthcoming.
City Hall’s problem is its deliberate and systematic strangulation by denial of its oxygen, money. This report will be the ammunition needed to remove the Mayor and install P.P.P. henchmen until local elections are held.
Borapork!When the last you went to Georgetown?The place” is a mess,it has become the Garbage City of South America.I had to hire guys with cutlasses and a chain saw to find my mother’s grave which is situated about 10 metres from Vlissengen Road and the irony of it all was that the biggest wreath of flowers at her funeral and the most comforting sympathy card came from one Hamilton Greene Mayor of Georgetown.The corruption at the city council starts from the top and stretches right down to the porter at the mortuary who has to get a bribe just to move the dead from the freezer to the table where the post-mortem is preformed and that is strangulation of normal human decency.Marc Deygoo.
Hahahahahaah keep dreaming why do you think the pooo poo poo loves having you there hammie? you are low hanging fruit, you create an easy distraction and excuse for the PPP to say see…..PHENC will never change……meanwhile you and I both know local govt is a waste of time in GY because the revenues are not there to support another layer of govt.
Time to shelve that junk.
What is wrong with this Mayor??? Good management by you Mr Green could have prevented this probe…now you are hoping that this probe does not prove your incompetence and you should not be voted out …Samaroo need to show why he thinks the PNC change and what is his party’s proposal after shelving local government, not just shooting off his mouth…
Is he for real. Why shouldn’t the findings be used for political purposes? Are you not a politician Hamilton Greene.
this thing is still in the dark ages, time has left it behind.
… let me answer dat fuh de anareble mayah fuh jagedung !,,,
he is not a politician ,, never was ,, and he knows he will never be ,, he was nutured ,, and cultured to be who he is ,, nothing more ,,
did de mayah give SN dis picha wah y’al put in dis story ??????????
if yes ,, tell de anareble mayah me seh ,, dat even if ‘e wear a top hat ,, an gat a cane ,, it still doan change de spots on him !
an wen ah seh spots ,, i en talking bowt dem lil ting pan de jaguar !
ah talkin bowt dem spots wah all ahwe know deh pan he !…..
Hammie you know that everthing in guyana politics is involved, so don’t be surprised when it happens.
Hammie prepare for that bouncer that is coming and duck in time if not you would end up on your backside.
Hammie bin there for 15 years and what has he done for GT?
Time for him to go.
Green by his own admission knew about the fraud and did noting about it.
hammie, do the citizens of georgetown a big favor and just go! your incompetence is unbelievable.
An ex minister of national mobilization.Mobilized nothing.As mayor, did nothing.Nothing + nothing really as you can see,equals nothing after all.Nevertheless,caught in a bind of his own invention,he certainly knows what is coming his way, so he is preempting punitive action to be taken, by begging for a little sympathy.He should get none, as he gave none even in his past illegal occupation of office.Now, imagine this, a fraud was being orchestrated under his nose, and he, as head of the dept, did not know? Gimme a break.This is incompetence, and incompetence is a requisite for being fired.
HAMMIE BIN IN POLITICS BEFORE NOAH BUILT THE BOAT THAT INNOCENT GUYANESE NOW DEH IN!! HAMMIE IS A KNOWAH HE SELF!! HE GAT FO KNOW! HOW ELSE, WITH THE MOST DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF OUR ONCE GARDEN CITY, IS THIS CHIEF CITIZEN, STILL IN CONTROL???