By Zena HenryToday the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) are expected to discuss how a reported $1,090,572,575 electricity tab will be dealt with to prevent the Council from facing a ‘blackout’ before the week comes to an end.It will first have to be determined how the colossal amount was accumulated by the M&CC and if legitimate, how it will be paid off. The Mayor, at the Council’s Statutory Meeting on Monday, announced that GPL was threatening to leave them in the dark by weekend if they do not pay the more than $1B utility bill. The already cash-strapped Council expressed surprise at the bill since they said that the Council,Chile Soccer Jersey, as of August of last year, was still in discussion with GPL over outstanding electricity bills. This they said was under former Town Clerk Yonette Pluck’s administration.Deputy Mayor Chase Green reiterated yesterday, that with the current Town Clerk Carol Sooba, she had repeatedly asked about the status of the GPL/City Hall discourse, and was told by Sooba that, ‘she was dealing with the matter on another level.’ She expressed surprise at the matter now facing the Council.Wishing not to comment on today’s meeting, the Mayor said he is however optimistic about the outcome. He is hoping that a favourable resolution results to ensure the continuance of the Council since it was expressed that no power essentially leaves the Council non-functional.Apart from the electricity issue, City Councilors are faced with the dilemma of their travel allowances and duty allowances being cut by the Town Clerk. Mayor Hamilton Green reiterated the words of the Deputy Mayor Chase–Green, that the act is vulgar and absurd. He said too, that the move to cut the Councilors’ money is, “illegal and improper.”It was brought to the Mayor’s attention by reporters that Minister within the Local Government Ministry Norman Whittaker had instructed the Town Clerk to deduct monies from the Councilors who are absent from Council meetings. The Mayor expressed disgust because, he said, the move to cut the Councilor’s money was not indicated to him.He said the Minister advising the Town Clerk on this and not corresponding to him is a very serious matter. “First of all it’s a breach of procedure and protocol. He is the elected official as Minister, I am the elected official as Mayor, the proper thing for him to do is to indicate to me, because this affects not the sweeper, or the medical engineer, it affects elected members of the Council whose work is beyond meetings.”The Councilors were very emotional yesterday. It was expressed that Councilors who are part of the Council alone and are able to attend every meeting, even their allowances were cut. Mayor Green said he is disappointed that the Minister would even admit to the cutting of Councilors’ allowances without the protocol of writing him to inform him about what will be done. The Mayor has assessed the now rising issues plaguing City Hall as “plots by the government to further frustrate the Council’s work now that there is serious talk about local government elections”.Minister Norman Whittaker told Kaieteur News last night that it is not about the cuts to Councilors’ money but that they are being paid taxpayers’ dollars for travel allowances and duties that they are not performing.He said if Councilors are not attending the meetings when they are called and do not offer proper explanations or excuses, then their allowances need to be reassessed. He further mentioned that is how Councilors are being assessed – by attending meetings even if they sit and say nothing.The Council has however cited 28:01 of the Municipal Act which says that the Local Government Minister agrees to the money allocated to Councilors. Nowhere in that Act, they said, is there mention of the Minister or the Town Clerk having power to cut Councilors’ allowances.At the statutory meeting, a vote was taken and the majority voted for Councilors’ money to be returned while three abstained, wishing to have the Local Government Minister speak on the matter. No one was against.
