Sooba: City Hall now in better financial position

Town Clerk (ag) Carol Sooba

LEGALLY appointed Town Clerk of Georgetown, Ms Carol Sooba, has declared that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is in a better financial position than it was before she took over the administrative role of Town Clerk.

Speaking at a recent press conference, Sooba told the media that the financial records of the council are now in proper order, and can stand up to any level of scrutiny.

Sooba said that unlike in previous years, when workers’ statutory deductions were not being remitted to the various agencies, things have improved, and those are now ‘things of the past’. She said the M&CC has been remitting deductions from employees’ emoluments to the National Insurance Scheme and the Guyana Revenue Authority in accordance with the laws of Guyana and the guidelines which govern such remittances; and the council has also been able to fulfill its monthly obligation to the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL), paying over several millions monthly as part of an arrangement to clear accumulated electricity bills, which amount to millions of dollars.

Prior to Sooba assuming the position of Town Clerk, workers were forced to picket the council and take to the streets each month for their salaries, which in some cases were owed them for more than two months. Workers were occasionally unable to receive their monies in time for the Christmas season, and in some cases had to spend that period without receiving their salaries. The situation was so dire that the Government of Guyana was, on many occasions, forced to make advance payments on rates and taxes for government buildings within the city in order to make money available for the M&CC to pay workers.

When the time for salaries and wages came around at City Hall and funds were not available to pay workers, the council, through its Mayor, Hamilton Green, would inform that persons were not paying up their rates and taxes; and if there were any payments, those were being done at a very low rate. Despite those claims, however, the senior workers of the council were receiving their salaries while the ordinary workers were forced to wait months and weeks.

However, despite the evidence, there has been a recent war waged against Carol Sooba and her immediate staff by City Mayor Hamilton Green and a selected number of councillors. Sooba has, for the past few months, been unable to carry out her functions as Town Clerk in an environment that is free from fear and intimidation.

There have been calls for her to resign, while similar calls have been made for Hamilton Green to resign as the mayor, with persons citing the state of the city with respect to the garbage situation.

Persons have also begun questioning the motive of the mayor, who recently appointed Public Relations Officer Royston King as Town Clerk when he, Hamilton Green, had issues with King during 2009, when King felt that he was being victimised by Mayor Green.