Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/undss3chaos030509.html
UNITED NATIONS, March 5 -- The UN's Department of Safety and Security, already embroiled in a scandal about pre-decided promotions, was slammed was wasteful in a recent report on the Capital Master Plan. Urging that the 108 new security jobs requested for the UN's renovation be scaled back, the UN's Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) said that "their number could be reduced....the resources requested for training could be further reduced [by] forty percent." A/63/736.
As Inner City Press has exclusively reported, the current head of security for UN Headquarters, of whom the Staff Union has adopted a resolution of no-confidence, is said to be trying to shift to the Capital Master Plan. His ally Albert Lyttle, the author of the pre-selected promotion memo which Inner City Press obtained and put online last month, has lashed out at Staff Union representatives, in a letter which Inner City Press is putting online here. Inner City Press held off publishing this letter, but in light of reports of retaliation against whistleblowers, silence seems the wrong approach.
The letter concerns the meetings at which the vote of no-confidence was taken. Its claim of defamation seems tenuous at best. As one observer put it, if your own document defames you, the only one you have to sue is yourself.
Inner City Press asked the Capital Master Plan spokesman if the head of SSS was trying for a post with the CMP. He answered, "there are no posts." But there are many posts proposed, to the UN's Fifth Committee. While ACABQ has proposed to scale back by 40%, several posts will still exist. Watch this site.
In other responses to Inner City Press' questions, the CMP's spokesman tersely replied
Q1. -- Mayor Bloomberg has issued a report on climate change which predicts rising temperatures and sea levels for New York City (see e.g., http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29257373/). NYC is taking steps to prepare for a rise in the sea level between 7 and 23 inches, by among other things, raising water treatment equipment to higher ground. Has the UN seen this report, and is the UN taking any steps in its CMP to mitigate against the threat of rising seas?
A1. -- The Climate Risk Information by the New York City Panel on Climate Change, released on 17 February 2009, identifies some of the potential risks to the critical infrastructure of New York City posed by climate change. The Office of the CMP has seen this report, and will review it to determine if design changes are needed.
Q2. -- Doesn't the UNHQ sometimes flood now?
A2. -- There is no flooding in the UNHQ caused by the proximity of the complex to the East River.
Q3. -- What changes have you made to your plans to accommodate this?
A3. - See answer to Q1.
Q4. -- Also if you could describe why the staff assistance area in the 42nd Street library was demolished yesterday? What else should be expected in the lobbies?
A4. -- The Volunteers Desk was moved from the Secretariat Lobby to the Visitors Lobby in the General Assembly Building, since the Secretariat Building will begin undergoing renovation later in the year.
Q5. -- Which UN functions are slated to move not to Madison Avenue or the Albano building, but to the building on the corner of 2nd and 42nd with Innovation Luggage (and a liquor store) on the ground floor? The Medical Service? What else?
A5. -- Although all our plans are subject to adjustments until the move occurs, at this time the Medical Service, staff from DGACM and DPI (Radio Section) are scheduled to move to 300 East 42nd Street.
Q6. -- Please provide an update on the status of the idea of charging the press rent or costs, in the swing space or upon return.
A6. -- The issue is presently under review within the Secretariat.
Q7. -- Are there positions within the CMP which the current head of DSS's SSS and his deputy are applying for? What would those positions be?
A7. -- There are currently no vacant positions within the CMP.
Q8. -- Has the CMP (or wider UN if you can comment on that) had any money in the financial institutions which have either been merged or received over $5 billion in TARP funds during this financial melt-down?
A8. -- This question should be directed to the UN Treasury.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/undss3chaos030509.html
