VP Jagdeo – ‘Totally corrupt cabal’ at Georgetown M&CC not serving the interest of the people

Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo says that the political agenda of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) distorts the vision of serving the people, evident in the continued neglect of the capital city.

Dr Jagdeo made the statement on Friday, as he responded to the question of whether the city council receives adequate subvention.

The VP noted that the MCC is a “totally corrupt cabal” and its actions rooted in its political affiliation, noting that dereliction of duty cannot be attributed to the lack of revenue.

“The taxpayers of this country every year hand the Mayor and City Council billions of dollars. They collect the revenue from the city and spend it on themselves. They do get adequate subvention every year. Adequacy is based on their perception. But that is why we look at the total spending in the city. If we handed them money to do a single road that we are doing now in the city, they would spend every single cent of the money and the road will never be built. There is no accountability for the ten-year gap in the audits. The financial statements are all done in a questionable manner,” he pointed out.

Dr Jagdo stressed that previous experiences have led to concerns as it relates to the reliability of the council, recalling the allocation of funds to rehabilitate and upgrade the Stabroek and Kitty markets, projects that never materialised.

Additionally, Dr Jagdeo in response to a question of the PPP/C administration working alongside the council and alleviating the tension, recalled when the PNC reneged on the mutual agreement to rotate the mayorship among the parties to foster coherence and equity.

The VP disclosed that the mayor has reached out to the government times before, but these instances were always in his own personal interests and not those of the people.

“We have always been open to working with anyone regardless of their political affiliation. If you’re genuinely concerned about development, then we are willing to work with you,” the VP said.