The Mayor’s Office

1997/98 REVIEW

In fulfillment of its role as elected custodians of Port of Spain with responsibility for the overall well-being of its burgesses and the interests of the city in general, the Mayor and his Council have been assiduously pushing forward to ensure meaningful delivery of service to the people on both the social and commercial fronts.

Consistent with the vision stated in its 1997 Annual Report that the City is "more than simply a place to live" but rather "the City is the engine of civilization, the place where culture emerges and flourishes, the heartland of economic development and prosperity", the city Fathers have been working to show tangible results.

A look at the Annual Reports for 1997 and 1998 provides evidence of a team of conscientious Council-men and women diligently pursuing noble goals under the guidance of a Mayor who has described by Alderman Lennox Lewis (the council’s Leader of business) as an individual demonstrating

"exceptional competence in the running of the City’s business"

In 1997, for example, the council has "unprecedented success where road repairs were concerned", with more than eighty percent of the streets of Port of Spain having been re-surfaced.

Other noteworthy projects for the two-year period include:

• Re-surfacing and upgrading of public tennis and basketball courts with funding from a grant obtained from the public and private sector.

• Installation of burglar alarm systems in a number of schools throughout Port of Spain.

• A pilot project to introduce litter carts and special bins for improving garbage collection in the City.

• Refurbishment works at the Assembly Hall.

• Facilitating the establishment of a co-operative by the vendors at the Workingmen’s dining shed ("The Breakfast Shed") to ensure the continued successful operation of this institution to the satisfaction of the vendors (who are now effectively the owner/operators).

• Refurbishing of the Abattoir.

• Upgrading of facilities at the Central Market.

• Staging cultural activities to mark the country’s various festivals and continuing to shine with the down Town Carnival Competition.

• Acquisition of new vehicles and equipment for the City Police and putting in place systems for school outreach programmes.

• Participation in the opening of a computer centre for use by the City’s youths.

• Forming business alliances with a number of corporate citizens in pursuit of city projects.

• The institution of an ambulance facility.

• Conducting the Annual Independence Feeding programme for the elderly and needy on an on-going basis.

• Institution of a programme to improve the garbage disposal system in East Port of Spain by placing 20 steel bins in the area in late 1996 and, based on the programme’s success, extending this into 1997 with 10 additional bins.

• Embarking on a programme to demolish dilapidated buildings throughout the City as a means of improving the general appearance of Port of Spain.

• Promoting the international image and the interests of the City and of Trinidad and Tobago in general by paying courtesy calls to the Mayors of Atlanta and Syracuse and the Vice-Mayor of Miami, and among other trips abroad - attending the Caribbean Conference of Mayors in Jamaica in 1996 and Antigua in 1998. In 1996 Mayor Rahael was appointed Vice-President of the World Conference of Mayors.

On the social front, the Council has been fervent in serving the interests of its burgesses within the context of Local Government representation. The Mayor’s Christmas Party, for example, has proven to be a tremendous success, with the presents and refreshments well received by some 650 children in attendance.

In the same spirit, the Council has been vociferous about the affairs pertaining the Unemployment Relief Programme in an effort to ensure that the citizens of Port of Spain derive maximum benefits from its operations.

And in the desire to ensure the burgesses receive the best quality service from an administration that is staffed at optimal level, the Council, through alderman Marvo Harper, has used the Council’s Statutory Meeting as the forum to publicly express concern at the delay by the Local government Ministry in filing key vacancies in the Corporation.

It was in the quest to help drum up support for the protection of citizens’ rights to a Press free from political interference that the Mayor led his team of Council members on a march with the people on the Brian Lara Promenade in support of ousted Barbadian Journalist Julian Rogers in April, 1998.

The Council was also able to amicably settle leasing arrangements for a parcel of land with the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, a matter which had been outstanding for some time.

Mayor John Rahael is known to enjoy acceptance in every community and from all interest groups that have a stake in the City and he has succeeded in building a strong team of Councillors and Alderman who according to Leader of business Alderman Lennox Lewis - "have a very good working relationship with the members of management of the Port of Spain Corporation."