Dear Editor,
Last week a delegation headed by the Mayor of Georgetown made a visit to the Head of the CID, Mr Leslie James. There we made a report of four acts by the acting Town Clerk, Ms Carol Sooba, three of which we believe amounted to the illegal use of city council’s funds and the other the deliberate denial of taxes and rates due to the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown. This we contend amounts to fraud. We supplied information and undertook to forward additional information to the Criminal Investigation De-partment. Since then the sum denied the council coffers has risen to fifty-three odd million dollars.
Owing to the difficulty of obtaining further details to support our allegation, at a duly constituted Statutory Meeting of the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, held on Mon-day, August 25, 2014, by a majority vote a motion was moved and passed requiring Ms Sooba and the Treasurer, Mr Ron McCalman to proceed on administrative leave immediately. After the motion was passed, in a loud defiant tone of voice Ms Sooba declared that she would not comply, even though this apart she had not taken leave for over two years. As a result it was agreed that the outer office leading to the Town Clerk’s Office be secured by putting on additional locks.
The following day, Tuesday, August 26, it was drawn to our attention that one Mr Sean Hinds had used a tool to rip off the locks and in the process damaged the property of the council (there is photographic evidence of this activity).
The said afternoon after ascertaining the reliability of the report that Mr Hinds with Ms Sooba had done damage to our property as above described, a delegation consisting of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor four Councillors and concerned citizens proceeded to the Brickdam Police Station and made a report.
At the Brickdam (en-quiries) we were directed to the upper flat to make the said report. This we did and the senior officer referred us to a Cpl Chapman. After speaking with this police officer, he asked that we proceed to City Hall to examine the “crime scene” (my words). At City Hall on arrival I noticed that some person had padlocked the outer door leading to the office to the Town Clerk’s Department, the same one we had secured the night before. Cpl Chapman and a female photographer showed their police ID and asked to be allowed beyond the locked door. The person ignored the request of the two police ranks, and after a while Ms Sooba with Mr Hinds emerged and asked Cpl Chapman to speak to his ‘superior’ – her exact words – on her cell phone.
This done, the police officers informed us that they were ordered by higher authority to abort the investigation and return to Brickdam; all of this was witnessed by a group of us. The officers duly apologized to us and left City Hall. It is not necessary for me to make any comment to the Commissioner, but respectfully seek some explanation for this denial of our rights to have the police investigate fully a complaint made by the Mayor, Councillors and citizens.
Of interest we have heard nothing more about this damage to council’s property by Mr Hinds.
Justice must at least appear to be done. When will we know who the ‘superior’ is that called off an investigation based on a report made by the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and others; we must be a special state.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
Mayor
