No decision yet on G’town IMC

-Persaud

Although the installation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to manage the capital city is being considered, Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud yesterday denied that any steps have been taken to replace the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).

“The Central Government will always give thought and consideration to improve any system if it is not functioning in the manner it ought to and that includes the municipality of Georgetown,” Persaud told a news conference yesterday, while noting that procedures would have to be followed to set up an IMC. “That has not commenced as yet for the M&CC and I don’t know whether it will commence… There is no process which would have started to establish an IMC to replace the M&CC,” he said, though he acknowledged that the installation of an IMC is being considered.

Persaud’s statements came even as Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green declared that he would not be removed from office, since he had been elected by the people. He was at the time speaking at an emergency press briefing to address the possible installation of an IMC for the city.

But according to Persaud, the government is currently at the stage of discussing the possible options, none of which has yet been ruled out. “I must say that if the city continues to manage its affairs as it is now, creating a serious health issue, not only to the citizens of Georgetown but citizens who have reason to be within the boundary of Georgetown, then yes, we may have to accelerate our search for a solution with regards to how we will fix this seemingly established institutionalised mismanagement of the affairs,” he further stated.

When asked about the purpose of appointing IMCs to manage the affairs of communities across the country with the expectation of local government elections to be soon held, Persaud said that IMCs were only short-term solutions. “They (IMCs) are temporary in nature, pending the holding of local government elections and councils are replaced for a number of reasons,” he said, pointing out that many suffer depletion to a state to which they do not have a quorum, while the operation of others have been deemed unsatisfactory by their constituency. In either case, he added, there are calls for an inquiry and based on those, a decision is taken to establish an IMC or not.

With bills that are part of a raft of reform legislation for local government elections being re-tabled, Persaud said it was hoped that the work on them at a select committee of the last Parliament would mean less work to ready them for passage now. “We are hoping that because of the work done on these four bills by the members of the ninth parliament, that the select committee will have less work to do and so we will have these pieces of legislation coming out of the select committee during the course of this year and they can be approved. Once those [bills] are out, then the stage is set for the holding of local government elections. I was very hopeful and I am still very hopeful that we will have those elections soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mayor Green, at an emergency press conference, said that he would not comment on the unconfirmed reports of the installation of an IMC. However, Green was firm that he would not be removed from office, since he was placed there by the people and there are processes that the government must go through before making such a move.

“This is not a village, this is the capital and there are serious issues involved here… Bottom line is there is no Local Government Commission and at the end of the day disciplinary measures against all corruptions rests solely with the Minister, who has the power of the Local Government Commission. Therefore, it will be a violation of all democratic principles if the government accuses by suggesting that the council and the body is inadequate,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor, Patricia Chase-Green also echoed Green’s statements. “We were elected here by the people and let the people remove us, there is a procedure and there should be consultation with the councillors to have it dissolved. We are waiting on the government to move and we are definitely going to oppose that,” she said.