Dear Editor,
On 1st September 2026, Local Government Minister, Manickchand, wrote the Linden Town Clerk, instructing that the Linden Mayor and Town Council “cease and desist immediately from the imposition and collection of any toll/charges at Kara Kara Public Road.”[1]
The Minister’s missive stated the Ministry has not authorized the imposition of or collection of any toll/charges at Kara Kara Public Road or anywhere else in Linden, and “further, no By-law or Order was issued and published by any Minister with responsibility for Local Government.”!
On the very day, the Official Gazette published Order No. 172 of 2026 signed by the very (Hon.) Minister, wherein it states under marginal note “Revocation of By-Laws No. 1 of 2016”, “The Linden Town Council (Toll) By-Laws 2016, being By-Laws No. 1 of 2016 and published in the Official Gazette on the 20th day of August, 2016, are revoked.”
The only possible explanations for the above contradictory positions, are either (i) that the (Hon.) Minister set out to deliberately deceive the Linden municipality, or (ii) that the (Hon.) Minister’s left hand was unaware of what her right hand was doing.
The foregoing notwithstanding, the aforementioned Minister’s Order in which she cited Sections 304 and 305 of the Municipal and District Councils Act, Cap. 28:01, as the basis for her revocation, are sections that do not confer any such authority by which she seeks to act.
I am reminded that the Minister is an Attorney-at-Law, but it appears that it is a case of her desire to operate as an overlord of statutory autonomous constitutional organs, superseding her obvious knowledge of the law.
The Minister would do well to properly acquaint herself of legislative changes which strengthen the autonomy of local democratic organs, and which severely curtail the role of the subject Minister and designed to prevent undue interference. One such change is the insertion of Section 8 A to Cap. 28:01, Act No. 15 of 2013, Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Act 2013, an amendment passed while the Minister was a sitting Minister of Government.[2]
The above-stated section granted municipalities the authority to promote the welfare of the municipality, to develop and evaluate policies and programmes, ensure that the municipality is managed in a professional manner by a qualified Town Clerk, amongst other functions without the necessity of Ministerial approval.
Further, I direct the Hon. Minister to the deletion of Sections 157 and 158 as well as the insertion of Sec. 206 (2), to Cap. 28:01, all of which are designed to reduce the Ministerial role as that of a caretaker as opposed to a manager.[2]
While I’m at it, I wish to advert to the current undemocratic situation whereby the region itself – Upper Demerara-Berbice/Region 10 – is without a Chairman, one year after General and Regional Elections were held, entirely due to unlawful actions of the Regional Executive Officer. The subject Minister, again who I point out, is a lawyer, is not merely silent in the face of this defiance of the law but part and parcel of the dictatorial and rogue behaviour of the current regime.
The intent of the current administration is clear, and it is to deny local government organs their constitutional authority and to starve local councils of a revenue base that allows them to effectively discharge their functions. It is a wicked agenda.
Editor, in the interest of brevity, I’ll end this correspondence now, though I hardly expect it to be the end of it!
Sincerely,
Ronald Bulkan
Former Minister of Communities
Ronald Bulkan
Former Minister of Communities
References
- Linden Town Council rejects Manickchand’s ban on Kara Kara Road tolls - Kaieteur News — kaieteurnewsonline.com ↩
- municipal-and-district-councils-amendment-act-1988 | Parliament of Guyana — parliament.gov.gy ↩
Sources
- Manickchand and the Linden Town Council in Kaieteur News, September 3, 2026
- Manickchand and the Linden Town Council in Kiskadee Watch, September 3, 2026