City Council says no market money missing
Last Wednesday we heard City Councillor Kevin Singh alleging that records at the Council’s Finance Department do not reflect what market vendors are claiming to have paid. The vendors who sell at the Queen Square Market claimed that their arrears for market stalls remained at around a hundred and seventy-four thousand dollars even when they were paying, in some cases, more than double to clear off their debts. Singh told us he went to check on the payments and could not get a straight answer and was told an investigation was needed. Well, this past Tuesday, the Council issued a press release saying that there was no money missing or unaccounted for. But Singh says he is still seriously questioning where the monies went and how come the arrears remain so high.
Kevin Singh, City Councillor
kevin singh
“I’m not fighting with my colleagues but if they say this is this then the people want to know; the vendors want to know. Yoh see, I explained already, when I took over the market and we moved the people from Queen’s Square to the temporary market, I had to go in and tell them in order to go back over to the new Michael Finnegan Market they would have to start pay their arrears from over Queen’s Square. They gave me an arrears for a hundred and seventy four thousand between all fifty five vendors that were in there. When I went individually to the vendors and tell them you owe four thousand dollars, you owe three thousand and odd, the vendors start to complain.”
Marion Ali
“Did they have receipts?”
Kevin Singh
“Well this is a problem. The majority of them that pay ten dollars a day, they can’t find most of their receipts. Dehn wah tell yoh rat eat it, soh majority of them won’t have receipts. But their problem is, they are saying that under PUP and U.D.P.’ government dehn mi di pay ten dollars a day fi like ten to fifteen years. Soh fi dehn thing is dah Queen Square how come fi dehn arrears soh big if the market bi-laws say that one twenty-five they are supposed to pay monthly and they are paying over the amount. That’s the question I want to get answers to and they want answers to that.”
Marion Ali
“What has the Council or the Administrator told you when you asked that question?”
Kevin Singh
“When I went in and I asked them that question they had no answer for it. They were trying to find out, going through different things. Now this is what they came up with, that everything is accounted for.”
Marion Ali
“As a Council have you met, have you discussed it with your colleagues?”
Kevin Singh
“Yes, we have sat down and we have discussed it but we need to take it to a caucus meeting so that we could down with the Finance and Revenues Departments to make sure that these things—this is the release but we haven’t sat down and I haven’t been shown nothing yet that this is actually what they owe and how they owe it. And that’s what they want to know.”
Marion Ali
“What is your position? You are the man in charge of the market.”
Kevin Singh
“I am trying to find out for them. I have to agree with the people. It’s just logical common sense, if you di pay three ten a month then your arrears fi so many years shouldn’t be as high as they say.”
Marion Ali
“Are you questioning or are you at odds with your Council over this matter?”
Kevin Singh
“I’m questioning the Council on behalf of the vendors. I am there for these people too. The Mayor has called me and told me to go downstairs to let them fix it. So right now we kinda tie up eena wah whole lotta lee thing soh we have to give them time. Now that we came out with this I could go back there now and try to find out how comes this came out and they seh all payment is right and everything is right. We have to find that out when I go een deh.”
This all started when a rent increase was proposed by the Hotchandani group that owns the property where the market temporarily located at Pound Yard. Singh says he intends to find out exactly what happened or where the confusion lies.
With all due respect to Mr. Finnegan…. If he did not pay for the construction of the market, why does it have his name on it?????? It was the peoples’ money that was used for construction. Can’t we find another name for the market. What about … “The Queens Square Market” ???
Okay wait for one minute was’n that “The Queens Square Market”????? i no see no sense in puting dose politician names on the country assets ………thats for the citizens of belize.
Mr. Singh, mind you noh get fired fi di do di right ting my bwai. What is so difficult?. Even if the Vendors lost their receipts and their transactions were not recorded in the COMPUTER, what happened to the Receipt Books from where Vendors were issued their receipts?. Mr. Singh, please stay on them, our country need transparency for all revenues collected. Cover you back my bwai, otherwise later on you might be a part of the problem and not a part of the solution, which you might regret.
Tell you what, Computer or no Computer, audit is usually conducted from the Receipt Book whether it may be (R.C.R.B) Revenue Collectors Receipt Book or otherwise to a Ledger, which is tracked back to the Cashier. Da whe di goh-on now, dehn can’t find the Receipt Books, Ledger, and di Cashier Account Book?. Mr. Singh, noh be wah fool and accept dat no moni noh missing and is accountable for, bicaus at di end a di day, you might still haftu answer to di people or di Police. Wi need more Public Servants like you, sir. Keep up the good work and God Bless.
OR IS MR: FINNEGAN THE NEW OWNER OF THE MARKET???? ONLY THAT I COULD TINK ABOUT!!!
ONE THING I’VE LEARNED IS THAT WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY, WE CANT TRUST THAT SET FROM CITY HALL. ONE COUNCILOR TALKS EVERY TIMES HE SEES A CAMERA EVEN IF HE HAS NOTHING SENSIBLE TO SAY.
JUST THE OTHER DAY ON THE NEWS, THAT SAME COUNCILOR WAS BLAMING A CRITICALLY ILL MOTHER OF 2 FOR HER ROLE IN THE MISSING $60,00 FROM CITY HALL. THAT POOR DESPERATE VERY ILL GIRL! I BELIEVE HER ONLY CRIME WAS ACCEPTING A BRIBE OF $2,000, TO KEEP HER MOUTH SHUT ABOUT WRONGDOINGS AT CITY HALL, WHICH IS COMMON THERE ANYWAY! BUT THAT SAID COUNCILOR, WHO HAS A PERSONAL REASON TO POINT FINGERS ELSEWHERE, WAS THE FIRST TO REBUT HER EXPLANATION GIVEN IN A TV INTERVIEW.
HASN’T THIS GIRL SUFFERED ENOUGH WILLY? INSTEAD OF TRYING TO HELP HER RAISE FUNDS TO GET A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT, OR EVEN BLOOD, THE RIGHTEOUS CROWD AT CITY HALL THREW OUT THIS SINGLE MOTHER OF TWO ON HER DYING BED! THOSE POOR KIDS!.
IT WAS JUST THE OTHER DAY THAT THE MAYOR HELPED RAISED MONEY FOR SOMEONE WHO NEEDED MEDICAL ATTENTION ABROAD, WHILE FIRING ANOTHER WHO’S DYING. WHAT A HYPOCRITE! WAS THIS POOR GIRL’S CRIME ANY WORSE THAN YOURS.
what did finnegan do to get the market named after him?? did he finance it? what is wrong with him?? i’d be shame if I was him.
clueless says:
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May 21, 2010 at 3:34 am
ONE THING I’VE LEARNED IS THAT WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY, WE CANT TRUST THAT SET FROM CITY HALL. ONE COUNCILOR TALKS EVERY TIMES HE SEES A CAMERA EVEN IF HE HAS NOTHING SENSIBLE TO SAY.
JUST THE OTHER DAY ON THE NEWS, THAT SAME COUNCILOR WAS BLAMING A CRITICALLY ILL MOTHER OF 2 FOR HER ROLE IN THE MISSING $60,00 FROM CITY HALL. THAT POOR DESPERATE VERY ILL GIRL! I BELIEVE HER ONLY CRIME WAS ACCEPTING A BRIBE OF $2,000, TO KEEP HER MOUTH SHUT ABOUT WRONGDOINGS AT CITY HALL, WHICH IS COMMON THERE ANYWAY! BUT THAT SAID COUNCILOR, WHO HAS A PERSONAL REASON TO POINT FINGERS ELSEWHERE, WAS THE FIRST TO REBUT HER EXPLANATION GIVEN IN A TV INTERVIEW.
HASN’T THIS GIRL SUFFERED ENOUGH SILLY WILLY? INSTEAD OF TRYING TO HELP HER RAISE FUNDS TO GET A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT, OR EVEN BLOOD, THE RIGHTEOUS CROWD AT CITY HALL THREW OUT THIS SINGLE MOTHER OF TWO ON HER DYING BED! THOSE POOR KIDS!.
IT WAS JUST THE OTHER DAY THAT THE MAYOR HELPED RAISED MONEY FOR SOMEONE WHO NEEDED MEDICAL ATTENTION ABROAD, WHILE FIRING ANOTHER WHO’S DYING. WHAT A HYPOCRITE! WAS THIS POOR GIRL’S CRIME ANY WORSE THAN YOURS.