In response to the Mayor of Georgetown’s call for the Government to pay up the more than $6 Billion owed in taxes to the City Council, Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo has claimed that the money owed appears to be inflated, and the Government through various programmes has been injecting money into the nation’s capital city.

The opposition-controlled City Council has long accused the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government of starving the city of critical resources, and failing to pay taxes owed. In a Letter to the Editor published in the Staboek News on Sunday under the title “City council does not need a bailout, it needs the monies owed by the Government,” the City Mayor said Central Government, including all of its ministries and agencies, owes the council in excess of $6B in taxes. 

But the Vice President on Thursday rubbished the allegation, accusing the Council of inflating the numbers with regards to the taxes reportedly owed by Government. 

He said contrary to the narrative being peddled by the Council, the Government has been investing heavily in Georgetown. According to him, the Ministry of Public Works alone has spent approximately $15B in the city, upgrading roads and other infrastructures. 

“So, you can’t say we are starving the city. We are taking over, beautifying the city, planting trees. They are not doing any of this work along the seawall, along the railway embankment, by the army compound, etc,” the Vice President said. 

He said an additional $1B is being spent on Drainage and Irrigation while approximately $500M is being used to repair and upgrade sports grounds in the city. 

 “We are spending another $500M on doing all the grounds in the city including putting in lights in the city. There is no issue about starving of funds. We are spending a lot of money investing in the city,” the Vice President said. 

According to the Vice President, the Government continues to spend “huge sums of money” on the development of the city, although it is the Council’s responsibility to maintain its roads and other infrastructure. While there are some roads that fall under the municipality, many roads also fall under the Government’s direct responsibility.

The City Mayor has stated that instead of paying the taxes owed, the Government, without consulting the Council, has been carrying out its own works in the city. He said in many instances, the works done by Central Government are “shabby.”

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