Pension motion could widen GGG rift

Pension motion could widen GGG rift By Cecil Griffith
Stabroek News
August 11, 2003

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Mayor Hamilton Green’s swift and caustic response to the city council’s pension motion has the potential for widening the rift within the party which until now had been an internal matter. If not handled skillfully by the GGG’s founder-leader, the Greens may soon become a voice in the political wilderness.
The bone of contention between Mayor Green and the council especially two members of his party, councillors Harold Kissoon and attorney-at-law C.M.L. John is the recent passage of a motion in the council dealing with pensions for city ‘fathers’ and ‘mothers’.
In the absence of the mayor who was abroad the motion was thoroughly debated during the last statutory meeting of the council. Although concerns were expressed by the leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) group, Oscar Clarke, and his opposite number for the People’s Progressive Party/C (PPP/C), Fitzgerald Agard, the motion was unanimously passed, with an amendment suggested by the deputy mayor Robert Williams who presided.
The legal committee of which councillor John is chairman is to look at the pros and cons of the resolution which would be brought back to full council for approval or rejection. From the tone of letters sent to newspaper editors last week Mayor Green, while acknowledging that he may have some sympathy for the idea behind the motion, holds the view that the procedures adopted were wrong.
In his letter to the media Mayor Green noted that “at no time was this important issue discussed with me or within the political group to which the mover of the motion belongs”. The mover was councillor Kissoon and the seconder was Councillor John.
Councillor Kissoon, known around the horseshoe-shaped table as a maverick, when asked for a comment on the ‘chief citizen’s’ reaction, enquired...“since when a councillor has to seek the permission and approval of the mayor to introduce a resolution in council...?”
According to the GGG councillor, under Chapter 28:01 motions must reach the Town Clerk’s office within 96 hours of a statutory meeting and this was done in this case. The GGG councillor whose views on this issue are supported by the seconder, councillor John, wants his leader to clarify what he meant by stating in his letter to the media that if approved the pensions would only benefit councillors and not citizens. “I am under no obligation to consult with the mayor on such matters... I have an independent mind...”, he declared, adding that the ‘chief citizen’ has been out of the country three times over the past six weeks.

Whither the GGG
In the local government elections held in 1994 the newly formed GGG led by former PNC Prime Minister Hamilton Green won 12 of the 30 seats which were up for grabs in the city of Georgetown. The PNC won 10 seats with the PPP/C taking 8 seats. The GGG’s electoral success was mainly due to the enthusiasm and political savvy of its leaders among them, former and now PNC member of parliament attorney-at-law Basil Williams, boxing promoter Odinga Lumumba, now with the PPP/C, former PNC information minister Elvin McDavid, one time party chairman Ramesh Kissoon who was deputy mayor during the first term of the GGG’s Mayor Green, and Euclin Gomes the city businessman who was treasurer.
The party also brought together pockets of foot soldiers in different parts of the city who went door-to-door telling citizens about the GGG and it brought success.
The party in those earlier years was a force to be reckoned with but lost ground when it ventured into national elections. Since then many of the party’s stalwarts left for ‘greener’ pastures in the political arena. The cohesiveness among GGG councillors at statutory meeting was no longer in evidence and the leadership decisions were sometimes questioned openly. GGG councillors clashed with their party colleagues over matters raised at statutory meetings. It seems as though those who were in charge had lost control. Throughout these vicissitudes the GGG’s first elected general secretary, deputy mayor councillor Robert Williams remained loyal and supportive of his leader

Water Street vendors
A small committee has been set up to work out the final details covering the accommodation of all legitimate vendors on the new Water Street site.
A spokesman at City Hall told this column that additional space may have to be found for some 50 vendors after the allocation for 532 others has been worked out... and everything is being done to make the new site more business friendly.
The Guyana Government has given the assurance that it will abide by the court order to pay Toolsie Persaud Ltd $260M for the land now occupied by the vendors. This matter is still in the courts. The company had paid $2.7M for the land in 1989. The asking price is now $400M.

Etcetera

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What is the council doing about not only derelict buildings in the city but the scores of others which are left unoccupied and unattended surrounded by bush. Who are the owners?
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Since it is known that the only way Water Street could be cleared of vendors is the constant monitoring of the area by members of the city police, councillors should make the beefing up of this department their first priority. Attention should also be paid to training in law enforcement
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Attention... chief constable... now that you have a new head of the law enforcement unit... its presence is needed on Regent Street and certain parts of Robb Street especially between the Avenue of the Republic and Savage Street on both sides of the streets.