Mayor Pandit Ubraj Narine: A life dedicated to service

The Mayor of the City of Georgetown, His Worship Councillor Pandit Ubraj Narine met and spoke with this publication on March 28. The meeting, which took place in the Office of the Mayor, was requested by Village Voice News after it was noted that the mayor had repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the behavior of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration.

Mayor Narine – who writes a column in the Village Voice News – has raised a variety of concerns in his articles. This publication wanted to speak with him about those concerns.

In the morning of March 28, Mayor Narine opened the door of his office at City Hall and welcomed a representative of the Village Voice News (VVN).

The mayor began by saying that he takes his job very seriously. He said, “I took this job because I want to serve.” The mayor explained that his life is one of service to people having become a Pandit at age 11. He said that his acceptance of the position of mayor simply emerged as a result of his wish to work in the interest of others. He said that he did not make a conscious decision to become involved in politics; it just happened.

When asked to describe himself in fewer than five words, Mayor Narine said, “I am a husband and father.” He gestured towards the wall behind his chair and desk where a number of colourful drawings were taped. The mayor said, “Those were made by my two children; I put the drawings there so my children could be near me while I work.”

The conversation then turned to matters related to his work.

He said that the biggest enemy of the development of Georgetown is the ruling PPP. The mayor explained that the PPP – controlled by Bharrat Jagdeo – continues to do everything it can do to, “cut off the legs and cripple every local government organ, including the Municipality of Georgetown, that the PPP does not control.”

When he was asked to elaborate, the mayor candidly explained his position.

Mayor Narine said, “This Council has done a lot of work with very little resources. We have passed about eight policy documents. We have written a Human Resources Manual, and we are in the process of preparing a manual which will articulate Standard Operating Procedures for the Council. None of those systems existed when I took office. But, the Council recognised that we needed written rules and standardised regulations to guide our day to day conduct, so, the Council created those guides for itself.

Mayor Narine said, “The most remarkable thing is that councillors wrote those documents. We have never had any consultants; we have never had any writers or anybody; we did it all ourselves.

“Can you imagine if we had experts to assist us with that work; could you imagine how much more we could have done?”

The mayor continued, “The Council saw other needs and addressed them. For example, we set up an emergency fund; that fund can be quickly accessed if there is disaster that affects citizens; such an arrangement has never existed before.”

VVN:

“Your Worship, you’ve said many times that the PPP regime is trying to stifle the Georgetown Municipal Council, will you please explain?”

Mayor Pt. Ubraj Narine:

“The Bharrat Jagdeo PPP regime is trying to cripple this council from all angles. The administration knows that to get anything done, we need 4Ms: we need management, money, manpower, and machinery. And the PPP is strangling this municipality of all those things that we need.

“The regime is doing this to every single local government organ that supports the political Opposition. Therefore, we have to fight the PPP’s actions; we have to stand against tyranny. We must never, never, never allow the PPP to take over opposition strongholds because they will literally trample over any Guyanese that stands up to them.

“Incidentally, when we hold onto our strongholds, everyone – including the international community – would be able to see the blatant discrimination being practised by the PPP government. The ruling administration has no shame; it is openly discrimininating and openly attacking its opponents. There is no real democracy in government.

“The fact that the PPP government is not democratic is no surprise because the PPP party itself has no democracy. The party selects its leader; there is no democratic process inside the PPP to freely elect a leader.”

As the conversation continued, the mayor – although speaking quietly – appeared more passionate and animated.

Mayor Narine said, “Let me tell you about another thing.

“The Local Government Commission (LGC) was set up in 2013 under the [Donald] Ramotar presidency. The PPP government has now weaponised and politisised the LGC. The PPP regime is using the LGC to bypass the elected Council of the Municipality of Georgetown.

“In other words, the PPP has now set up the LGC – which is PPP dominated – as a parallel local government body. This is totally against the law; it violates the Constitution. However, the PPP regime and its Attorney General Anil Nandlall only apply the law against opponents. The fact is, the PPP believes that it is above the law.

“I can say beyond any fear of contradiction that the Attorney General is complicit in violating the supreme law of Guyana.

“Getting back to the subject of the LGC, can you believe that the LGC has sent a letter to the bank ordering a change of signatories on cheques over which the Council should have control? The PPP has illegally hijacked the Council’s bank account. The PPP has taken over the purse of the Georgetown Municipal Council. Can you believe that?”

VVN: Mayor, those are disturbing allegations; what do you intend to do?

Mayor Ubraj Narine:

“First, what I have said today is not all I have to say; there is more. I would be happy to speak with you again because the people of Georgetown – the citizens of Guyana – need to know what the PPP regime is doing to them.

“In answer to your question: I intend to fight the PPP. We cannot allow the regime to walk all over us; this country belongs to all Guyanese, not just PPP supporters.

“I will be frank with you: Bharrat Jagdeo wants to be God of Guyana; he wants total control. If we do not resist, he will have his way. As patriotic citizens we must stop him and the PPP regime that he controls.”

After the conversation between the Mayor of Georgetown and VVN, His Worship left for another meeting.

This publication thanks HIs Worship for his time and his kind invitation for a follow up interview.