Mayor of Linden, Dominique Blair, has fired back at the Local Government Minister over her instruction to the Linden Town Clerk for the Linden Town Council to desist from collecting tolls from commercial vehicles entering the town.
In a statement this afternoon, Mayor Blair pointed out that the Linden toll system for commercial vehicles entering the town for business purposes is covered by gazetted By-Laws that have been in place since 2016.
He said he is challenging the Minister’s assertion that there was never any by-law or legal order authorising the imposition and collection of tolls at Kara Kara.
Mayor Blair explained that the Council’s records point to the documented history of the toll arrangement, particularly the Linden Town Council (Toll) By-Laws 2016, which were approved by the Government of the day and gazetted on 20th August, 2016.
He said those By-Laws established tolls for various categories of vehicles and expressly treated the proceeds as revenue belonging to the Town Council.
The Mayor said when the toll booth was reopened in November 2016, the then Mayor explained that the revenue was required to meet municipal obligations, including salaries, National Insurance Scheme contributions, gratuity and other expenses.
Mayor Blair said the Local Government Minister cannot simply disregard this history by asserting that no legal instrument existed.
“If the Government’s position is that the 2016 By-Laws have since been repealed, revoked, superseded or otherwise rendered ineffective, the Minister should identify the specific legal instrument by which that result was achieved”, Blair stated.
The Linden Town Council is also demanding clarification regarding the present legal status of Kara Kara Road. The Mayor said the Minister’s directive to the Town Clerk describes the Kara Kara Road as a ‘public road’.
He said the Government must explain when, and by what lawful instrument, the road acquired that status in the context asserted by the Minister.
He said the Government must also explain what became of the Council’s pre-existing rights and revenue arrangements.
Mayor Blair said the financial consequences of the Central Government’s actions are key to the dispute. He reminded that the Government has already removed the Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge toll, which generated approximately G$70 million annually for the town of Linden, and that loss in revenue has contributed significantly to the Council’s present financial difficulties, including its challenges in meeting salaries and other municipal obligations.
The Mayor said the Council now faces the prospect of losing another source of revenue through the Minister’s directive concerning the Kara Kara toll collection, and he wants answers.
He aid the Central Government cannot remove municipal revenue while simultaneously expecting the Council to continue providing services efficiently, adding that in the Council’s view, this amounts to “financial strangulation rather than genuine local-government empowerment”.
The Mayor said the Linden Town Council is calling for immediate legal and financial engagement with Central Government, as it demands that the Minister provides the legal basis for the directive concerning Kara Kara Public Road; identify the legislation, Order, declaration or other instrument establishing Kara Kara as a ‘public road’ in the context asserted by the Minister; clarify whether the Linden Town Council (Toll) By-Laws 2016 remain legally effective and, if not, identify the instrument that repealed or invalidated them; suspend enforcement of the directive pending proper consultation and legal clarification; meet urgently with the Mayor and Town Council regarding the Council’s deteriorating financial position; and provide a sustainable and legally guaranteed replacement revenue mechanism for revenue streams removed by Central Government.
He said the Government must also address the substantial revenue loss resulting from the removal of the Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge toll and establish an objective and transparent constitutional framework for municipal financing and revenue generation.
Source: News Source Guyana
