Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 14, 2021 News
Kaieteur News – Justice Joann Barlow yesterday dismissed a request to strike out the legal challenge filed over the appointment of interim Town Clerk of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Candace Nelson. Justice Barlow examined three issues in relation to the matter which was heard at the High Court yesterday.
The first issue dealt with the request for dismissal of the matter filed by Nelson’s attorney, Pratesh Satram. The judge denied this request stating that the Court will need to inquire into the merits of the matter before a decision is taken. The second issue related to the application for injunctive relief filed by attorneys representing the Georgetown Council to temporarily stop Nelson from performing the duties of Town Clerk until the hearing and determination of the court matter. Justice Barlow also refused this application in view of the wider public interest. Using the Court’s discretion, Justice Barlow outlined the impact that granting a request to stop Nelson from performing her duties would have on the entire functionality of the municipality.
In refusing to grant the injunction, Justice Barlow noted that since the Town Clerk holds a critical post in the Council, if the application should be granted, the effects on the Council’s operations would be dire. The judge therefore chose a date to schedule hearing the matter and ordered that the defendants – the interim Town Clerk and the Local Government Commission –file their defence within 14 days for the substantive matter. The claimants were instructed to reply if necessary within seven days of the defence. The substantive matter is fixed for the 6th October, 2021 at 15:00hrs for further Court Management Conference (CMC).
On July 27, 2021, the Local Government Commission (LGC), the appointing body, had demoted Sherry Jerrick to Deputy Town Clerk for reportedly not performing her duties satisfactorily. LGC commissioners reportedly voted to revert Jerrick to her previously held position and later made a decision to appoint Nelson as the Interim Town Clerk. However, the Council had moved to the High Court to block the appointment.
According to documents filed through the Council’s legal team, the defendant, Nelson, since her installation as Acting Town Clerk, “has taken a number of disruptive actions, which pose serious ongoing breaches that compromise the sanctity of the operations of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown.”
Furthermore, according to the court documents, Nelson sought to suspend a tendering process that had commenced months prior to July 28, 2021, and allegedly sought to influence the records of statutory meetings of the M&CC of Georgetown by deleting matters from minutes of meetings, as well as seeking to dictate the contents of the agendas for subsequent meetings of the council.
“It is feared that if the implementation or further implementation of the decision is not suspended, Candace Nelson will further disrupt the activities of the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown,” the grounds for the application stated.
Moreover, it is being claimed that the conduct of Nelson, who is purportedly acting under the power of the LGC is “inimical” to the best interests of the M&CC, the infrastructure of the City of Georgetown, and the residents of Georgetown.
Citing that Nelson is acting without proper authority, the Council said that her actions have been continually disrupting the smooth and efficient functioning of the M&CC.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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