Orrin Gordon heads Linden Interim Management Committee
Stabroek News
November 29, 2003
The Linden Interim Management Committee was yesterday officially installed in the Boardroom of the Linden town council in the presence of representatives of the PPP/C and the PNCR, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
The 18 members were all given letters of appointment by Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Clinton Collymore, before the Chairman Orrin Gordon and Vice-Chairman Eric Harry were elected.
The newly-elected Chairman of the IMC, who will also be the acting mayor, urged residents yesterday to pay up their taxes. He stated also that the IMC sees its role as strengthening and supporting the region's administration.
Regional Chairman of Region Ten, Mortimer Mingo, in opening remarks at the ceremony, welcomed the members of the committee and commended them for volunteering their services at such a trying time when the situation at Linden leaves much to be desired, GINA stated.
"It is incumbent on you all to ensure that partisan politics take a distant position to the effective representation and resolution of the issues affecting all of the people of Linden," Mingo said.
Member of Parliament and attorney-at-law Basil Williams, who spoke on behalf of Leader of the Opposition Robert Corbin, congratulated the members of the committee on committing themselves to serve the community in such challenging times when it is facing serious economic difficulties.
He said their job entailed a lot of work and noted that one of the aims of the Joint Task Force committee set up to reform local government "is to effect the empowerment of people in the areas in which they live in this country." Williams is a member of the Joint Task Force.
Meanwhile, Minister Collymore announced that the Joint Task Force report is expected to be out in a few weeks.
The minister congratulated the new IMC members and briefed them on the difficulties they are likely to face during their term of office.
He also told them he would like to see better reports coming out of Linden, and remarked that whenever reports came out of the town regarding the Urban Development Programme (UDP) they were most times negative.
Collymore also told the IMC members that where rates and taxes collection in the town is concerned, the evaluation process which has come to a standstill has to continue.
He further said that there are some draft by-laws that need to be dealt with and presented to the minister since they also constitute one of the benchmarks of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
He pointed out too that there is a business plan in the town that has to be grappled with, and the Town Clerk will advise the committee on how to proceed with it.
Another matter to be dealt with is the harmonisation of valuation mode. "At the moment, in the urban areas, there is valuation by rental mode, in the rural areas there is valuation by capital mode," he said, adding that under the UDP and the IDB benchmarks, the system must be amalgamated into one.
The Local Government Ministry, the minister said, has opted for the capital mode, and this was also agreed to by all the other municipalities which have submitted their agreement in writing to the ministry.
Collymore also urged that vendors should utilise the Wismar market as soon as possible and measures be taken to get them off the road. And he advised too that work needs to be done on the Mackenzie market, and called attention also to the matter of wages and salaries for councillors.