The APNU+AFC controlled Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) on Monday passed a motion that seeks to terminate the services of its city engineer Colvern Venture with immediate effect.
The motion was tabled by two councillors, Heston Bostwick and Clayton Hinds, on December 7, 2021; it came up at the M&CC’s first statutory meeting for 2022 and after hours of deliberation, the News Room understands that all of the APNU+AFC councillors voted in favour of the motion while the PPP/C councillors abstained.
Venture and the Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine have been at odds since last year; as a matter of fact, Venture had even managed to prevent previous attempts by the M&CC to dismiss him after he resorted to the courts.
Venture confirmed that the motion was carried but noted “I would not want to comment at this time” when further pressed by the News Room.
In the motion, the councillors stated that the engineer has been performing poorly and brought the work of the council into public disrepute.
“… the Council hereby recommend the termination of service of the City Engineer Mr Colvern Venture in the public interest, said termination shall take effect immediately and he shall be paid all benefits due and payable to him including one month’s pay in lieu of notice,” the motion stated.
Venture through his attorney Ronald Burch- Smith had alleged that some members of the M&CC may have personal issues with him which may have prompted the motion.
The Engineer in a statement issued last December had accused the M&CC of not providing the City Engineer’s department with the necessary resources to complete their works around the city.
“Currently, my department is operating with one tractor and trailer to address all the issues of drainage, transporting of materials, workers and other allied works within the city.
“Therefore, one must ask the question, how can a Department or the Council as a whole function effectively under these circumstances?” Venture questioned in his December statement.
And previously, Venture also claimed that Mayor Narine was adamant about replacing him with someone more favourable to him, causing Venture to even write to the Local Government Commission (LGC) to lodge a complaint.
The Mayor, on the other hand, had protested the inefficiency of the Engineer’s Department on several occasions which saw very poor services being offered to the public.
Efforts to contact the Mayor for a comment on the motion prove futile.
