Cash-strapped City Council mulls spending $20M on Town Week

By Bibi Khatoon

The Mayor and City Council of Georgetown is mulling a week of activities to celebrate its anniversary. During a statutory meeting on Monday afternoon, it was revealed that the event has a ballpark figure of $20M.

But this is not sitting well with Councillors who believe that the money can be used to pay off some of the Council’s debts.

Councillor, Carolyn Caesar-Murray exclaimed that such a sum can be used to reduce the outstanding monies owed to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) as she sought answers on the purpose of the event dubbed ‘City Week.’

“That’s a lot of money to expend on such an exercise, that’s money that we can pay to NIS so I don’t think it’s necessary that we have this event this year and this time,” Caesar-Murray told the council.

The Mayor, Patricia Chase-Green said, however, that the event is something which was held in the past but it had stopped due to a mix up in the date. Taking into consideration the concerns raised, she said “even if you don’t have this big grand celebration that will cost $20M…at least we must recognize the day the city was ‘born’ and at least you must have some activity for that day.”

She likened the event to that of the annual New Amsterdam, Bartica and Linden town weeks.

The Mayor said some of the monies spent will also be recovered from rental fees for persons who will be showcasing their merchandise at the event.

Councillor, Khame Sharma outlined that the council is already faced with challenges when it comes to transparency and accountability at the municipality and therefore spending $20M on such an event is a cause for concern.

The Councillor alluded to several contractors owed by the council, hinting that the sum can be spent elsewhere.

The Mayor urged the Councillors, who form part of the social development committee, to formulate a structured plan for the event and return to the council for approval.

The city of Georgetown began as a small town in the 18th century. It was renamed Georgetown on April 29, 1812, and officially gained city status on August 24, 1842.