The Mayor and City Councillors were caught by surprise yesterday when they were informed by Town Clerk Candace Nelson that a Local Government Commission letter to suspend Solid Waste Director Walter Narine for insubordination had been rescinded.
Mayor Alfred Mentore was in the process of reading the October 2nd suspension letter to the council when Nelson interrupted to inform that the letter had since been rescinded. Mentore expressed surprise as he had only the copy of the letter of suspension and was only learning of the withdrawal of the letter during the Mayor & City Council statutory meeting.
The letter withdrawing the suspension was dated October 9th (yesterday) and Narine was informed the Commission had a “Special Meeting” on the said date and voted by majority to rescind the suspension.
In its October 2nd letter the Commission had told Narine that in keeping with the principles of natural justice and good industrial relations it had invited him to a special meeting of the Human Resource Standing Committee on September 21st to discuss the extent of his involvement in appointing Maginauth Sahadeo, Sanitation Supervisor, to perform the duties of Transport Foreman.
“When asked to explain your position relative to Mr Sahadeo’s acting appointment, you admitted that you instructed Mr. Sahadeo to act without the necessary approval,” the letter said to Narine.
It added that the Commission concluded that Narine was guilty of “serious insubordination and (was) hereby suspended from duty for fourteen (14) days without pay from your position of as Director of the Solid Waste Management with effect from October 9th, 2023 to October 22nd, 2023”.
“The LGC also seeks to record that any reoccurrence of such practices would result in more stringent disciplinary measures being instituted against you,” the letter ended.
While the letter of suspension was signed by Secretary of the Commission Nickolai Pryce the letter of withdrawal was signed by Chairman of the Commission, Julius Faerber.
During yesterday’s statutory meeting held at the Kitty Market Building some councillors said that Narine did not possess the mandate to appoint Sahadeo. They pointed out that such a breach of protocol raised concerns within the Commission, prompting it to take disciplinary action. They also hinted at political interference in the matter.
Stabroek News tried to make contact with Narine, however all calls went unanswered up to press time.
One APNU councillor argued that Narine’s actions merited closer scrutiny. He contended that his tenure had been marked by questionable decisions, leading to the municipality’s loss of trust in his ability to manage its waste disposal operations effectively.
“He told himself, he’s a bird, he can fly,” the APNU councillor said. Another grievance brought to light was the matter of missing skip bins. It was revealed that approximately 30 skip bins could not be accounted for, and Narine later said that they were assigned to waste disposal contractors. It was further noted by another APNU councillor, Gregory Fraser, that Narine was instructed to have the skip bins returned to the council, however to date, only one was returned. This revelation sparked renewed calls for transparency and accountability within the Georgetown municipality.
Narine’s actions during his tenure as the Solid Waste Director have come under intense scrutiny within the council. Some councillors and community members have argued that his track record is marred by poor decision-making, which has led to the mismanagement of municipal resources. In particular, the allocation of skip bins to contractors without proper accountability raised the most red flags.
(An earlier version of this story was erroneous as it had stated that Mayor Alfred Mentore had withdrawn the suspension. Stabroek News regrets the error and apologises to Mr Mentore for any inconvenience caused.)
