Chairman of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC)’s Finance Commitee, Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Lelon Saul, says only 47 percent of property owners in the nation’s capital have honoured their obligation for rates and taxes payment.
Saul said this act of noncompliance continues to create major issues for City Hall in carrying out its functions. His comments come days after a national clean-up exercise was conducted in Georgetown and its environs. The campaign was spearheaded by the Guyana Government with assistance from the private sector, the Joint-Services and citizens.
During the exercise, the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, highlighted deficiencies in the M&CC, noting that the body has the obligation to keep the city clean but continues to fail.
“I want to take this opportunity to point out that the Mayor and City Council at the end of the day the statutory body with the responsibility and duty to clean the city and they have been abysmally negligent in the discharge of those duties and obligations,” the minister was quoted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) as saying.
But Saul, a former Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) Chief, labelled the AG’s as being on a “smear campaign”.
In a letter to the editor of the Stabroek News published on Thursday, Saul said that he was appalled by the AG’s comments, when the very senior government functionary is aware of the challenges faced by the M&CC.
While acknowledging that the M&CC is indeed mandated under the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01 to execute several functions including waste management, efficacy is adversely affected by inadequate finance and “unnecessary interventions” by the central government.
He noted, “Georgetown is 70 square kilometres, comprises a vast network of drains and roads and has an estimated population of over 200,000. Unfortunately, during last year (2023) our estimated budget was $2.6 billion.”
He added that even the uninitiated would scoff at this paltry sum, in juxtaposition with the vast resources needed for Georgetown to retain its titled of “The Garden City.”
“The M&CC derives its largest sum of revenue from rates and taxes and only 47 per cent of property owners have honoured their obligations with the largest debtors being commercial property owners,” Saul stated.
The Chairman was quick to point out that while the M&CC’s inability to deliver quality services is not only impeded by private ratepayers, but also, in large part, by the Central Government.
He explained that the council’s ability to garner additional revenue under the general rates is difficult if not impossible, noting that the rates have not been updated in decades. He added that it is up to central government to produce a new valuation list.
“Should the Government and other delinquent ratepayers honour their obligations, this problem, if not disappearing like magic, will be comfortably under control and citizens would be better able to enjoy the obvious benefits,” Saul noted.
