City Treasurer (ag) of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, John Douglas is blaming Republic Bank for the delay in submitting his monthly financial reports to the Council.
At a statutory meeting at City Hall on Tuesday Douglas said he has not received a bank statement since December 2019 and as such cannot complete his report.
Douglas said he made several attempts to retrieve bank statements from Republic Bank but was unsuccessful.
Addressing the Council, Douglas explained that a letter was sent to the bank on January 31 but there has been no response. He also noted that he personally visited the bank and was told that they were experiencing internal issues.
“I visited the bank three times, they have accepted the letters but currently have not responded…mind you, we are going to go into the month of March and to date, I cannot receive a bank statement from December 2019, the last statement I got was November 2019,” Douglas said.
According to Douglas, he spoke with representatives at the bank who said they can provide a printout copy of the statements.
“….but the thing is it will not be official and it’s subject to change. Are you asking me to accept such a report to the council and then next you know there is a change and maybe I will be held liable for such a change?” Douglas questioned.
Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine said he is cognizant of the issues at Republic Bank but also noted that the Council needs to be aware of its finances.
“I need the monthly report to know exactly how things are happening in the Council, in financial which is a critical area,” the Mayor said.
“The November report we get it late, you got December, January and now February we are headed to March next five days and if the letter not working, I believe Mr Treasurer you should make arrangement to reach with the manager or representative from the bank and seek clarity,” the Mayor noted.
After deliberating, the Council agreed that the Town Clerk (ag), Sherry Jerrick and the City Treasurer will request an urgent meeting with the Bank’s Manager on the issue.
The Town clerk noted that other aspects of the financial reports could be submitted without the bank statements and it is unacceptable that there have been no submissions.
“I believe that notwithstanding, I am not sure whether all aspects of the City Treasurer’s report has to do with the bank statements and other parts could’ve been reported on in addition to that, even if it was a printout you could have used that and put ‘tentative’ and if there is a change then the council will so be guided,” Jerrick stated.
The Mayor then responded and said he will not be accepting a report or bank statement which is subjected to change.
Meanwhile, in January this year, it was recommended by the Local Government Commission that the City Treasurer be suspended for one month without pay for negligence and dereliction of duties.
While the Commission recommended that Douglas’ suspension take effect from January 13, Mayor Narine opted for the City Treasurer to remain at work until the budget was completed in March.
Douglas has since denied the charges which stated that he breached standard operating procedures for depositing revenues collected. The monies which were to be deposited on June 20 last year, were found weeks later in the car of the City’s Chief Constable.
