Georgetown municipality staff would only be reduced if there is empirical evidence to support a cut, according to Mayor Hamilton Green.
Green told Stabroek News yesterday that cutting staff is not a dominant issue for the Mayor and City Council (M&CC). “We actually are looking at addressing the question of the wage bill via our revenue and whether it is prudent to continue business as usual,” he said.
He reiterated that the wage bill, which is about 70% of the municipality’s revenue, is being examined after it was raised by the Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall.
During the month and a half garbage crisis, which the city faced after contracted garbage collectors suspended services, Lall had stated his dissatisfaction in the wages bill of the municipality and had said it was a “non-starter” to any discussions with the Council. In response, Green had called a meeting with senior administrative staff at City Hall and asked them to identify where they can cut staff. However, all department heads present indicated that they were all understaffed.
Green also met with officials of the Guyana Local Government Officers Union, and the Guyana Labour Union to discuss a possible cut in staff.
Green reiterated that the wage bill is being examined and staff cuts were not the focus of that examination. “My focus now is to examine the wage bill via the revenue. If the consequence of that is cutting staff…I don’t want to be anticipatory of what could happen or what could not happen.”
Green added that he has written Lall asking for a meeting “to hear his views with the full council and to express to him our views and maybe to have a more technical in-depth examination of the works of the municipality.”
Meanwhile, he said that it should be noted that City Hall is a labour intensive operation with a number of things to do. The council is responsible for the maintenance of 15.325 square miles in the city; 160 miles of road; an abattoir; bridges; a cemetery; over 300 miles of concrete and earthen drains; eight outfall channels to the Demerara River and kokers; the collection and disposal of 250 tonnes of waste and garbage generated daily from the city, East Bank and East Coast; parapets; street lights; public parks and open spaces; public sanitary conveniences; tunnels; five municipal markets; food hygiene; policing and security of certain areas in the city; maternal and child health; day care centres; the building code and control of animals.
