Five city officers sacked after audit office probe

Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud has ordered the sacking of five Georgetown municipality officers, including the substantive Town Clerk, Treasurer and Engineer, following the conclusion of a probe by the Audit Office into mismanagement at City Hall.

Mayor Hamilton Green was copied letters by Minister in the Local Government Ministry, Norman Whittaker, who informed of the termination of services of Town Clerk Yonette Pluck-Cort, City Engineer Gregory Erskine, acting City Treasurer Andrew Meredith, Director of the Solid Waste Management Unit Hubert Urlin, and Accounts Clerk Troy Isaacs “in the public interest,” with effect from December 31, 2012.

Pluck-Cort, Meredith, Erskine and Urlin along with Deputy Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Munroe and Personnel Officer Paulette Braithwaite were sent on leave in July last year, pending the outcome of the investigation, which was triggered by a report on the city’s operations submitted by consultant Ramon Gaskin.

Gaskin’s findings included “phantom” workers on the city payroll, payments to front companies and