Councillors of the Mayor & City Council (M&CC) are contemplating reducing Mayor Hamilton Green’s security detail—a move he has said is being pursued out of malice by uninformed persons.
At a statutory meeting two weeks ago, Councillor Gwendolyn McGowan raised the issue of the Mayor’s security while considering the council’s current financial crisis.
M&CC Public Relations Officer Royston King later told Stabroek News that some councillors are of the view that the mayor’s security is excessive. He relayed that McGowan had stated that Mayor Green had eight constabulary ranks and two additional security guards. “Councillors are contemplating changing this, since it can’t continue with current financial circumstances,” he explained, while referring to the city’s dire finances.
King said that no action has been taken as yet since the mayor was out of the country for a short period so the situation could not be examined.
Meanwhile, Green yesterday told this newspaper that he has had his current arrangement since he served as Prime Minister. “The state took it on themselves to give me this security… it is customary all around the world,” he said.
When asked to explain the arrangement, the Mayor only said that the number is a security matter and he is bewildered as to where McGowan had gotten her information. He refused to comment on the number of security personnel he has at his residence.
“This is an obvious effort at malice by an uninformed person who didn’t get background information. Hours after McGowan would have said that, [Junior Finance Minister] Bishop Juan Edghill, who was in Atlanta at the same time with me, also made a remark about my excessive security. What about other people’s security? Like the President? Both Edghill and McGowan seem to be sipping from the same cup,” Mayor Green concluded.
