Minister of Local Government & Regional Development, Norman Whittaker recently had cause to call on the Guyana Police Force and the Office of the Auditor General to assist in investigations against Public Relations Officer of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Royston King. King allegedly misrepresented the capacity of acting Town Clerk, signing tax waivers for the Chairman of Beacons Foundation, Patrick de Groot.

According to a statement from acting Town Clerk of Georgetown, Carol Sooba, the letter which King fraudulently signed regarded the exemption of payment of rates and taxes of the Beacon Foundation at 127 Carmichael and Quamina Streets, South Cummingsburg to the Georgetown Mayor and City Council in excess of some $36M.
In circulated letters to the Auditor General and the Commissioner of Police, the Local Government Minister bemoaned that the power to exempt owners of certain properties from liability to pay rates is vested either wholly or partially in the Council and not in the Town Clerk or any other singular officer.
The dispute of the Town Clerk’s appointment has spanned over the tenures of three successive Local Government Ministers; Kellawan Lall, Ganga Persaud and Norman Whittaker.
In an e-mail by Principal Municipal Services Officer, Nandranie Harrichan to the Local Government Minister, Harrichan recollected that up until June, 2012; Ms. Yonette Pluck operated in the capacity of Town Clerk.
Pluck was sent on administrative leave from July 24, 2012 pending City Hall investigations.
Harrichan added that Carol Sooba had subsequently been appointed by then Minister of Local Government & Regional Development, Ganga Persaud to act as Town Clerk replacing Pluck on July 25, 2012.
In a bizarre twist of events, the appointment of Royston King as the acting Town Clerk was also published on July 25, 2012.
However, it should be noted that King’s appointment was not in keeping with the provisions of the Municipal Act Ch28:01. In any case, King would have issued the missive to de Groot some 12 days before his announced appointment by the Council, without the consent of the minister.
According to a legal letter in 2011 from the Chambers of Legal Practitioners Luckoo and Luckoo, signed by Robert R. Ramcharran, “the power to appoint persons to hold or act in any local government office and the power to remove any such person from office shall (be) vested in the Commission [Local Government Commission]…”, this according to Chapter 28:01 Section 116(1).
The Act further provides that in the absence of any such commission, the powers of the Commission are duly vested in the Minister of Local Government & Regional Development.
The provision gives the Council the ability to select the most suitable candidates but the vested authority to appoint any office-bearer rested with the minister himself.
King gave all assurance in a letter, seen by this newspaper, to the Chairman of Beacon Foundation, Patrick de Groot, that in keeping with the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01, section 212, Beacon Foundation had met the requirements to be granted exemption and further declared that “the council will have no objection to Beacon Foundation being granted exemption of Rates.”
King, however, had not acted in this capacity by appointment of the minister and as such would not have been authorised to make such a decision in the absence of the approval of the Council.

excerpts from http://www.newguymedia.com