M&CC to set up trust fund for rehabilitation of City Hall

THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) will be opening a trust fund at the local banks to enable members of the public to contribute towards the rehabilitation of City Hall building.
According to a release from the Georgetown Municipality, the body will be making a special appeal to citizens and other interested persons to assist in the rehabilitation of the iconic City Hall building.

Georgetown Mayor, Pandit Ubraj Narine, said he is keen on rehabilitating the historic building and would soon be chairing a subcommittee dedicated to its restoration.
To this end, the M&CC said that it will be opening a trust fund at local banking institutions to allow for contributions to be made toward the building.

The city mayor said that the accounts will allow for persons to donate funds toward the preservation of City Hall. “We want persons to be able to contribute towards saving City Hall if they wish to.  City Hall is an important piece of Guyana’s history and there has been lots of talk about rehabilitating the structure but not much has materialised. I however, would like to be the one to see City Hall get the attention that is needed so that the structure could be returned to its once prestigious state,” he said.

He said that all forms of assistance would be appreciated and the municipality noted that it is for this reason that donation boxes will also be placed at banks and other locations so that persons would not be inconvenienced. He explained that persons may want to make a donation to the cause but would not want to join long bank lines to do so. They would therefore be able to make a donation that would be fast and easy.

Last month members of the diplomatic corps joined the M&CC on their first city tour following the swearing in of Pandit Narine as mayor. The objective of the tour was to give the international representatives a first-hand look at some of the historical sites around the city and facilities that are owned and managed by the council. These sites included the municipal abattoir, the Stabroek Market wharf and City Hall among others.

Mayor Narine noted that during the tour, discussions were had with the international community about his commitment toward restoring the M&CC building. Follow up discussions, he said, are expected to take place where members of the diplomatic community will provide information on what assistance they could offer toward rehabilitating the colonial-styled structure. The mayor also noted that he would be interested in discussing “city-to-city” relationships with the international community so that Georgetown could meaningfully gain from the mistakes and advances of First World countries with prize-winning cities.

The cost of restoring the City Hall building was pegged at more than $200million. It was said that taking design and other detailed works into consideration, it would run the council into the hefty cost. The City Hall restoration committee will include members of the private sector, the Tourism Authority, the National Trust among others.

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