Many years ago, President Bharat Jagdeo decided that the central government had to intervene in Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, one of the largest squatting communities at the time, where thousands of people were living with mud dams, no electricity, and no water. The squatting community started under Forbes Burnham and the PNC. I was one of the ministers sent to work with citizens to regularise their status and to ensure water and electricity were made available to the people. Once the transformation started, the then Mayor objected, insisting that “no minister or central government could come into his town and work with people to change anything”. His arrogance made him blind to the fact that in his town people were living like animals.
President Irfaan Ali announced recently that enough was enough. President Ali had had enough of the ineptitude and disinterest of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown. He announced that he will work directly with the citizens and stakeholders in the city to begin a transformation to make Georgetown an iconic city once again. Like the Mayor of New Amsterdam two decades ago, the Mayor of Georgetown insists that it would not happen under his watch. As reported by Demerara Waves, the mayor stated that “as the democratically elected representatives of Georgetown, we insist that the Central Government engage in formal, transparent, and structured consultation with the City Council – and through us, with the people of this city – before any further steps are taken.” A mayor who is not doing his job decides he is king.
Georgetown is a city that is widely acknowledged as the worst, the dirtiest city, in CARICOM. But the mayor would rather do nothing to improve the city, leave garbage everywhere, and leave the city vulnerable for flooding even when it drizzles. It is true that today, most of the streets in Georgetown are in good condition and that some main roads have been reconstructed. But it is the Central Government that has done this work. The mayor and his city council have done nothing to improve the roads. But he demands President Ali desist from improving the city.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Georgetown was regarded as the Caribbean’s “Garden City”. This was before Forbes Burnham became the Mayor in 1959. He continued as Mayor until 1966. Burnham’s party, the People’s National Congress (PNC), in one form or another, has been in charge of Georgetown for 66 years.
In the span of the last 66 years, beautiful Georgetown degenerated from being the Caribbean’s Garden City to the Caribbean’s “Garbage City”. We would be lying if, as citizens of Guyana, we did not admit to ourselves that we have heard stories of how Georgetown stinks and is the poster child for a “gutter” city told by visitors over and over again, by our visiting relatives, and among ourselves. This is a regurgitated refrain among residents of Georgetown and visitors, both local and international.
This sad state of Georgetown is the legacy of the one political party that has held hegemony in Georgetown for more than 66 years. Mayor after mayor comes and goes, making promises that they never keep, having no plan or interest to regain the title as the Garden City of the Caribbean, or knowing how to transform our city into a modern metropolis. It is not merely that Georgetown is dirty, smelly and full of garbage; it is also that the city is run-down and looks derelict.
Central Government allocations to the city have been misused and unused. The USAID had to take back monies allocated to the City Council to rehabilitate the City Hall. Iconic sites like the Stabroek Market and the Bourda and La Penitence Markets, despite major investments by the Central Government, are disgraceful. The City and Mayor of Georgetown buildings have been left to fall apart. The iconic City Hall Building was an eyesore until recently when it was rehabilitated by Central Government investment.
The drains, sluices, and pump stations have been left without maintenance, leaving the city vulnerable every time rain falls. The pavements, parks and cemeteries are left with bushes. Garbage is everywhere, with the city defaulting on payment to garbage carriers. The city stinks to high heaven.
No responsible central government can leave the city to continue with this disgrace. President Irfaan Ali has personally become involved and has instructed a team of engineers and other stakeholders to develop a plan. Starting this week, the President himself is leading comprehensive consultations with citizens, the private sector and other stakeholders. There has been an aggressive awareness campaign to ensure that citizens in all the constituencies in Georgetown know of the consultations. Businesses and other organisations have been invited. The mayor and city council know of these consultations. They do not need special invitations to attend these consultations.
In response, the mayor demands that the President must abort this plan and must go through him. The mayor and town council have responsibilities that they have failed in. They, therefore, have a duty to cooperate with the President to transform the city. Instead, they demand veto powers.
The opposition parties, particularly the PNC-led APNU, have a duty-bound responsibility to attend these consultations and help build the plan to transform Georgetown. The question is whether they will be responsible or obstructionist. Given their history, none of us would be shocked if they chose the obstructionist path. Just like Aubrey Norton refused to shake the hands of the President a few years back, we can predict they will turn their backs on helping to make Georgetown an iconic city again.
The citizens say enough is enough. The citizens say that we must support the president because we want Georgetown to again be CARICOM’s “garden city”, the Caribbean’s iconic city again.