Acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba says there are three main reasons behind the Mayor’s objection to her and his organised protests, with one of them being that she refused to write off some $9M in taxes owed to the council by the Mayor’s wife.
At a press conference today, Sooba said $14M was initially owed after a revaluation was done and the amount was reduced to $9M.
According to the Town Clerk, there is no provision in the law to allow the money being written off and that the Mayor has been advised that his wife will have to pay.
The second reason for the protest she says is that a contractor who is also a councilor claimed that he was owed several million dollars for works.
She said she agreed to pay the monies only when legitimate documents outlining the works done are provided. But to date no document has surfaced, and according to Sooba, this matter will be investigated.
The third and final reason Sooba says involves Skar TV which is owned by another member of the council, who claimed that he is owed $15M for filming statutory meetings.
In this matter also, the Town Clerk says no document to back up the councilor’s claim has been provided and so no money was paid. [Akash Ramlackhan]
