Dear Editor,
I would like to commend the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown on their decision to establish an Audit Committee and a Procurement Committee. These committees need to marginalize the Finance Committee which continues to be headed by the ‘Old Timers’.
The first order of business would be for the Audit Committee to find out what exactly prevented the Internal Auditor and the staff of the Audit Department of the City Council from working for the last three years. During the hearings of the Commission of Inquiry into the operations of the Georgetown City Council, it was alleged that their internal audit department was prevented from carrying out financial inspections for the last three years. It would be interesting to know if since then whether the Internal Auditor has been allowed to carry out this critical exercise and whether they have successfully done so. It should be noted however, that the COI recommended that the Internal Auditor be given the pink slip and replaced by a qualified and a competent one. Finally, this Committee should seek the services of several private accounting firms and have their accounts audited and qualified for the last three years. This would go a long way in restoring some credibility to the Council.
As it relates to the Procurement Committee, well they have their work cut out for them. They need to look at all of the goods and services that have been and continue to be procured for the Council. Particularly, all of those hundreds of millions of dollars that have been doled out to ‘friends & family’ without adherence to bidding processes and tender board procedures should be investigated. Indeed all tenders should be terminated and re advertised and re awarded after a transparent process is undertaken. It is time that favourite contractors who have milked the system for years be done away with and reputable agencies be given a chance to supply goods and services to the city.
Carry on Mr. Mayor, the citizens are behind you. If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.
Yours faithfully,
Sambu Jacobus
