The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has launched an investigation in an attempt to recover missing funds that the Chinese Embassy in Georgetown had donated back in November 2015.
Town Clerk Royston King told News Source on Wednesday that the Embassy recently issued a notice in which it claims that the sum of US$40,000 was donated to the M&CC to assist with its sanitation and management programme.
But according to King, that money was never placed into the Council’s treasury neither was there paperwork to show that it was received.
“I have launched an investigation to find out exactly who received the money, what happened to the money, how it was spent and what projects were achieved as a result of the money given by the Chinese Embassy,” King said.
The Town Clerk said he was very disappointed and shocked that this has been said while the Council has no knowledge of it.
King explained that although he served on the previous Council that was in place at the time of the transaction he had no knowledge of the donation.
He said usually when donations are received there is a formal way to acknowledge it but no such paperwork can be found.
“During that time no such money received by me or my office, our Treasurer was not involved or the Solid Waste Director,” he added.
King said what he is aware of is that the now de-facto Protocol Officer of the Council was at the time in question doing business for the Council with several Embassies.
He said the Council is now trying to get him to come in and talk to them about the donation.
King cried embarrassment on the part of City Hall that it cannot provide receipts being requested by the Chinese Embassy for the donation.
He maintains that while the money may have been laid over to someone at City Hall it was not in the Council’s coffers or official records. The Town Clerk added that he does not want to speculate on what might have happened but hopes the investigation will lead to who received the money and how it was spent. (by Kurt Campbell)
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