The alleged leasing of land belonging to the government holding company, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), by Town Clerk Royston King to a shipping company is being investigated by the ongoing Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the administration and operations of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.
King yesterday declined to comment on the allegation. “I prefer not to speak on anything at this moment,” King said when contacted by Stabroek News.
During the first in a series of public hearings on the financial affairs of the Mayor and City Council, retired judge Cecil Kennard noted that among the matters to be dealt with was “the granting of a lease to a shipping company by the Town Clerk. This land is being claimed by NICIL.”
The land is located at 1 Lot 1 Mudlot, Lombard Street, Georgetown.
Documents seen by Stabroek News show that on April 5th, 2016, four days after the new council was sworn in, King signed a lease agreement with Quick Shipping Inc. for use of the land at an initial cost of $625,000 per year.
However, this newspaper understands that once the operators showed up on site, they found another leasee; one installed by NICIL. A subsequent application was made to NICIL by Quick Shipping on September 6th, 2016 for use of the land.
Stabroek News was unable to reach NICIL for comment on the issue.
Kennard, who is the sole commissioner for the CoI, which was established by the Local Government Commission (LGC), explained that it is his intention to call King before the CoI to respond to this and other allegations leveled against him.
Also likely to be invited to appear before the CoI is Mayor Patricia Chase-Green, since one of the complaints submitted to the LGC claims that she improperly disallowed a motion of no-confidence brought against King by former Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan.
In March of this year, Duncan submitted a motion of no-confidence against King but it was disallowed when a majority of councillors voted to accept legal advice that declared that the policy-making body has no right to declare a lack of confidence in its chief administrative officer.
The decision was made after Chase-Green read the advice procured by King from former Magistrate Maxwell Edwards.
Kennard explained that Duncan will be called to testify as to the nature of his complaint and then both Chase-Green and King will be granted the opportunity to respond.
Meanwhile several current and retired employees of City Hall appeared before the CoI yesterday to testify to their struggles in accessing benefits owed.
Among them was former Supervisor of the South Road Day Care Centre Jardine Hope, who told the CoI that she retired after serving for 35 years but was still to receive the retroactive salary increase owed to her for January to May, 2015.
She further noted that though she and the two other former employee she was representing receive their pension payments, they are always late.
“The regular pension we get it like every other month… we get it late and then we get a problem at the bank. We borrow mortgage and when we go to the bank, the bank take out the difference,” she said before explaining that late payments from the city administration means she is constantly paying penalties.
Hope, who received a monthly salary of GY$69,000 and is entitled to a pension of GY$56,000, added that the Town Clerk has repeatedly said, “he have to pay his staff first before pensioners get they money. They tell you, ‘you not on the pay sheet anymore you is a pensioner…’ That is the way they treat us.”
Allison Collins, the retired Supervisor of the East Ruimveldt Day Care, had a similar complaint and noted that since her retirement on July 24, 2017, she is yet to receive her gratuity. She too claimed she was owed back pay for 2015 and 2016. “They refused to give us,” Collins lamented.
Two vendors also testified.
