People's National Congress REFORM (PNC/R) councillor Desmond Moses last week objected to Mayor Hamilton Green preventing the city engineer from moving against the new structure being constructed by the Kissoon's Group opposite to its burnt-out Camp Street site.
Stabroek News
July 3, 2001
He told the statutory meeting of the City Council that after Green was informed about the impending action, he visited the scene and prevented the building from being demolished.
However, Deputy Mayor Robert Williams, who chaired the meeting in the absence of the mayor, told Moses that he cannot say that the mayor interfered with the city engineer's work when the city engineer had not lodged any such complaint.
He said the councillor should have invited the city engineer to the microphone to enquire of him whether the mayor did indeed interfere with his work.
According to council policy, Mayor Green should be informed about any demolition plans 24 hours in advance of implementation and he was not so informed in the recent case.
However, some councillors noted that in 1995 the council passed a motion that the city engineer has the right to demolish buildings without seeking advice from council.
They said it is now strange that the mayor must be informed before such action occurs.
Moses was not supported by his PNC/R colleague Patricia Woolford who contended that the city engineer should be more vigilant and not wait until a building is erected before moving to demolish it.
She noted that the department should observe buildings and advise the owners on what they are allowed to build or add to their structures. She said that it is hard for the owner of a building to have a structure demolished after spending so much to erect or add to it.
Other councillors pointed out to Woolford that the city engineer's department is too busy to be able to pinpoint all the faults in buildings being erected. The city engineer was not called to say whether the mayor interfered with his work or not.