Minister in the Ministry of Local Government Clinton Collymore has written Mayor of Rose Hall William Hendrax outlining a way to resolve certain disputes in the Rose Hall Town Council.
The letter follows a meeting Collymore held with PNC/R Councillor Winston Hope on November 7 to discuss several issues raised by the latter. Hope was muzzled by the Council after he refused to apologise for a letter he penned to Kaieteur News alleging that Hendrax had secretly been sworn-in as mayor.
The decision to prevent him from speaking at Council meetings and to withhold his monthly stipend was made by the PPP/C-led Council on August 28, at a special meeting.
Collymore in his letter to Hendrax noted that "arising from that discussion, Mr Hope expressed support for the initiatives as formulated by the Minister. These initiatives are as follows: the suspension of Councillor Hope to be for a period of one month commencing from September 30, 2002; the stipend for Councillor Hope to be restored with effect from the date it was withheld; Councillor Hope to terminate all disorderly activities at Council meetings; Councillor Hope to recognise the fact of Mr William Hendrax having been sworn in by His Excellency the President as Mayor of Rose Hall Town without further reservation; no effort to be made by Council to unseat Councillor Hope from the Board of the Central Housing and Planning Authority, that appointment having been made also by the President; the Minister to set up an investigation into the allegations made by Councillor Hope in relation to the management of the Municipality."
According to Collymore, "should there be indications in writing of non-acceptance of the proposals for a settlement by November 30, the Minister may then invoke provisions of the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01, which provide a remedy."
Regional Chairman Rohit Persaud has also set up a committee to investigate allegations made by Hope after the matter was raised by the PNC/R Councillor at a Regional Democratic Council meeting in New Amsterdam. That committee has so far been unable to conclude its investigations.
However, Hope told this newspaper that at a special meeting of the council held on November 5, a motion was moved and passed to rescind his suspension and the decision to withhold his stipend. Hope said he was told by the Mayor that he was not suspended for writing the letter to the newspaper but for his behaviour at meetings.
But Hope is disagreeing with Collymore when the Minister said in his letter that he [Hope] had "expressed support for the initiatives formulated by the Minister," particularly the fact that his suspension should be for a period of one month. "During my discussions with the Minister, he told me that the Council was wrong in suspending and denying me my stipend. He also said he regretted the embarrassment and inconvenience caused me during my suspension."
Since the August 28 decision, Hope had not been allowed to speak at council meetings. He however continued attending meetings and attempted on several occasions to speak. This resulted in Hendrax summoning the police on two occasions in an attempt to remove Hope whom he claimed was behaving in a disorderly manner. The ranks however refused to comply with the Mayor's instructions.
The stand-off between Hendrax and Hope culminated in a confrontation at last month's statutory meeting which again forced the intervention of the police. The council is comprised of nine PPP/C and three PNC/R Councillors. However, two PPP/C seats have been declared vacant.