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Dear Editor,
LELON Saul, chairman of the municipal finance committee, wrote a humorous propaganda article in Stabroek News.
In Saul’s “The Banality,” a masterpiece of which Freud would have been proud, he attempts to shift the blame for Georgetown’s challenges onto the national government, but the opposite is true.
Let’s start with Saul’s use of the phrase “garbage in, garbage out” to describe the central government. Ironically, this phrase is more apt to describe the way the Palestinian National Council manages its internal affairs.
They accuse each other of electoral fraud almost every time they hold an internal election – to the point where multiple party leaders have resigned or refused to participate in the corrupt electoral process. Garbage in, garbage out, huh, Congressman Saul?
As chairman of the Finance Committee, Saul personally oversaw one of the most mediocre and delayed budget processes in recent years. The city’s budget was submitted eight months after the statutory deadline — an unacceptable delay by any standard.
The final budget submission was so lacking in detail and relevance that Saul promised to provide a “supplementary budget” within six to eight weeks. This promise has not yet been fulfilled.
For context, Sol’s budget astonishingly omits key financial details like accounts payable and debt repayments, essentially pretending the city’s financial obligations don’t exist. For example, Sol waved a magic wand and the city’s $1.6 billion debt to the GRA magically disappeared.
Editor, the failure to submit a comprehensive budget on time has undermined the Commission’s ability to plan and perform its duties, forcing President Ali’s government to fill the gaps to maintain basic services. No amount of predictions and finger-pointing can change these basic facts.
So let me ask Lelon Saul a few questions directly:
1. When will you finally present a comprehensive and relevant budget to the Council?
2. Is it known to the public that the city’s financial software, which handles taxpayer information, is plagued by data corruption? It has been reported that there is a 15% chance that the rates reflected in the system are wrong. Why has this problem persisted in the year you have been chairman of the Finance Committee?
3. What impact do the above issues have on the City Council’s ability to collect taxes from taxpayers?
Most notably, Leron Sol’s approach seemed more focused on creating divisions than fostering unity, a familiar tactic of his own party. Rather than building bridges, he chose to widen gaps.
As chairman of the finance committee, he must have been well aware of the strong central government support for the management of the city’s health centres and major drains. The NDIA even provides fuel for the city-controlled pumping stations.
PPP/C MPs steadfastly refused to advocate for the allocation of public funds to an entity rife with financial opacity and mismanagement.
Editor, the fact is that central government is intervening in city affairs not to undermine the City Council, but to step in where the City Council has repeatedly failed. The people of Georgetown deserve better than the excuses and tantrums that Sol has offered. They deserve a competent, proactive City Council that is able to run the city affairs without outside interference.
Sincerely,
Alfonso de Armas
PPP/C City Councillor
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