City sets up audit, procurement committees

The financial management of City Hall has been revamped with the addition of two new committees to five which have over the years controlled the operations of the council.

The Audit Committee led by councillor Denroy Tudor and the Procurement and Tender Committee led by Mayor Ubraj Narine were on Monday mandated to begin working to improve the transparency and accountability of a municipality whose operations have faced continued questions over corruption.

When the council on February 3 approved the formation of these committee and mandated that they operate separate and apart from the legally mandated Finance Committee they in effect neutralised the committee which is led by longtime councillor Oscar Clarke and former Mayor Patricia Chase-Green.

The council approved these committees without a clear Terms of Reference (TOR) outside of the functions their names suggest and has charged their members with drafting for council’s approval suitable TORs.

The Audit Committee has five members: Tudor, Dexter Forte, Eon Bollers, Mark Griffith and Ayodele Roache. All but Roache, who is a member of the Alliance for Change, represented A Partnership for National Unity.

Meanwhile, the Tender and Procurement Committee which is being chaired by Mayor Narine has seven members including Clayton Hinds, Shonelle Smith-Daniels David Allicock, Eketa Edwards, Dawn Stuart and John Vanveen, all of APNU.