Could Georgetown be restored to its beauty of yesteryear?
That is the question that is begging a credible response; but yes, it could.
When the Interim Management Committee was appointed in 1994 it was with the hope that the destruction and devastation that had fructified from the mismanagement of a prior administration, which had started the city on the downward spiral, would have been halted and reversed.
And with the sterling, indefatigable work of James Roses’ committee, which included prominent members of the society like Bish Panday, Bert Carter and others, things – including mountains of garbage, started moving.
Slowly, but surely, there emerged the beauty of a Cinderella city hidden behind mountains of filth and mismanagement.  Georgetown was being restored to its former glory days. 
The City even became financially viable once more, because, when the Committee assumed office there was a massive overdraft in the city’s account, but at the end of its life the Committee had managed to leave a healthy balance in the kitty.
But the momentum was lost when the life of the IMC came to an abrupt end and, through the electoral process, Hamilton Green became the Mayor of Georgetown – and the city plunged into the abyss once more, remaining there for unending years, with Central Government attempting, once every so often, the Herculean task of cleaning out the Augean stables that was the Georgetown Municipality under the stewardship of Hamilton Green.
Georgetown under Green’s stewardship as a Mayor is a microcosm of Guyana under Green’s stewardship as a Prime Minister.
And there seemed no surcease to the suffering of the hapless residents of Guyana’s capital city.
However, at long last there is hope for city dwellers with the announcement of imminent Local Government Elections which, with Mark Benschop in the race on an independent slate, is sure to be an interesting development.
If he is elected Mayor it is a certainty that he would light a fire in City Hall.  However, everyone is wondering whether that fire would burn out the garbage or burn down the city, and which is a worse-case scenario for the Government – having Mark Benschop as the new Mayor, or having Hamilton Green returned as Mayor.
The People’s Progressive Party has a hard fight on their hands if they want to develop the city along the lines formulated by the Burrowes Commission of Inquiry, and they need to ensure that their candidate becomes Mayor if they do not want a continuation of the unending controversy dominating the City Council meetings that currently exists.
So while the city has expectation of change after Local Government Elections, it is the direction that the change will take that is the question on everyone’s minds.
In the meanwhile the affairs of the city are spiralling even further out of control, despite valiant efforts by Keith Burrowes to rectify some of the shortcomings, especially in the City Treasury.
Despite the diverse ramifications, citizens of the City are desperate for a restructured City Council, because they have been victims of incompetent bureaucracy for too long.