THE last two days leading up to today’s historic first sitting of the National Assembly under a new government have seen heightened preparation for this auspicious occasion, with key stakeholders joining hands and hearts in a profound and selfless display of team spirit as they worked to beautify the Public Buildings and its environs.

There was an almost infectious demonstration of public spiritedness yesterday, and this was coupled with amazing energy and drive as the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) teamed up with the Horticultural Society of Guyana to roll out a massive beautification exercise targeting the parapet in foreground of the Public Buildings and its environs.

A team of officials from the M&CC, headed by Deputy Mayor Ms. Patricia Chase-Green and comprising Deputy Town Clerk (Ag) Ms Sharon Henry; Director of Solid Waste Management, Mr. Walter Narine; and City Engineer (Ag) Mr Ron Eastman, joined forces with representatives of the Horticultural Society of Guyana (HSG) in the environmental clean-up. The HSG team was headed by its president, Allison Noord, and included First Vice-President Cecilia McAlmont and Past-President Barbara Persaud.

The M&CC did a thorough cleaning up and landscaping of the parapet and streets in the vicinity of the Public Buildings, while representatives of the HSG planted flowers, around which they placed tyres which they painted immaculately white.

At the same time, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, in collaboration with the Police Traffic Department, set about repainting road markings outside of the Public Buildings on Brickdam, at the end of which exercise the environment took on an immaculate appearance. Heading the safe-traffic initiative were Constables 21640 Roydel Leitch and 21330 Kevin George of the Guyana Police Force ‘A’ Division (Traffic).

The area outside of the Banks DIH complex on Brickdam was also thoroughly cleaned, and the company put in place brand new bins to curtail littering.

The initiatives served to complement a fantastic job of beautifying and neatly manicuring the lawns in the forecourt of Public Buildings. Workers also expended great time and energy on washing the driveway and parking lot in the compound.
NOTHING LEFT UNDONE
From all appearances, there was no task left undone, both on the interior and exterior of the building, in preparing for today’s momentous occasion.

A technical team from the National Communications Network (NCN) was already setting up transmission wires, and two huge television screens had already been mounted to the eastern and western sides of the building for the benefit of members of the public whom space constraints would not allow to be entertained in the Parliament Chamber, according to Public Relations officer Ms. Onecka Alphonso-Walton.

Several pots of lush green palm plants adorning the stairway and catwalk leading to the Chamber added life to the hallowed halls of the magnificent edifice called the Public Buildings, one of the first structures erected by the Dutch as they settled along the Demerara River in the 18th Century. This building is still standing resplendent in its majesty for just over 180 years.
RED-CARPET AFFAIR
The Public Buildings were retained by the French when they briefly occupied the colony of Essequibo and Demerara in 1782.

Today’s sitting of the National Assembly will be a red-carpet occasion, and there will undoubtedly be much fanfare attending the occasion. Following the election of a Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and the taking of the solemn oath by all members of Parliament, His Excellency President David Granger will make a ceremonial appearance, and inspect the Guard of Honour in the forecourt of the Public Buildings.

The Guyana Police Force Steel Orchestra will then perform the musical honours, and there will be horses from the Police Mounted Branch lining the corridor of the Lower Chamber, PRO Ms. Walton said.

Commenting on yesterday’s special beautification project, Deputy Mayor Chase-Green noted with glee that everybody is catching on to the clean-up and beautification of the city of Georgetown. She recalled that the Horticultural Society had signalled its interest in playing a part on Monday, and after meeting with key functionaries at City Hall, commenced work at 10:00 hrs yesterday, preparing the environment and putting down plants.

Chase-Green said the initiative entails a short-term, medium-term and long-term plan for doing the beautification. The medium- and long-term components speak to the beautification of the eastern and western ends of the building.
OF SOME CONCERN
She said the only concern at this time has to do with the buses which park on the side of Public Buildings along Hadfield Street. “The Linden, Mahdia and Lethem buses being parked there do not lend much to the beauty and aesthetics of Public Buildings, so we are looking at areas where we can have those buses relocated,” Ms. Green said.

She also mentioned the vendors who occupy the pavement outside Public Buildings, adding that they ought not to be there. “We do not want to put people out of bread, but we’re trying to relocate them into other areas so that we can look at this area. And Public Buildings must remain a prestigious building, as it ought to be,” Mrs Chase-Green stressed.

She described the response the team has been getting from citizens as they passed that way during the morning and saw what was happening. “Everybody now feels a sense of belonging,” she said. “Everybody now identifies with it with pride and a sense of ownership that Georgetown and this country belong to us, and so we will take it on. Come tomorrow and you will see a beauty and rare elegance transcending Public Buildings,” Mrs Chase-Green said.

Even though the ramifications of relocating the buses and vendors have not as yet been worked out, the matter is being addressed, the deputy mayor said. She is hopeful that when the Government would have settled in, it can collaborate with the Police Traffic Department, the M&CC and all other stakeholders to get that matter sorted out; but by all means, she said, the buses should be parked away from the Public Buildings.

And about the vagrants slowly increasing their presence on the pavements to retake residence outside Public Buildings, the Deputy Mayor said: “No! No! No! We will make sure that this place is properly policed by our constabulary to prevent a recurrence.” She was categorical in stating: “As I said to you, Public Buildings is a prestigious building, and so there should be no vagrants sleeping outside of Public Buildings…. We’ll ensure that the whole place is beautified and remains that way,” she said.

By Shirley Thomas