For several years now Guyanese have witnessed the continuous deterioration of Georgetown, the country’s capital city, with only excuses for this deplorable state this once “garden city” being plunged into a “garbage city” forthcoming from the relevant authorities.
The citizens of Georgetown and the wider sections of the population are certainly disappointed, tired and disgusted with this most unfortunate state of affairs of Georgetown. And no doubt this has prompted a group of councillors to move a no confidence motion against the current Mayor. However, it was narrowly defeated by just two votes.
The main contention by the group of councilors who moved the no confidence motion is that there is no accountability by the current mayor and the city being mismanaged.
To support their contention the councilors raised the issue of the recent trip to China by the Mayor and other City Hall officials which they strongly argue have not been accounted for.
The Mayor did not present any explanation except to say that the trip was funded by well wishers. However, the councilors correctly pointed out that even if it were so the correct procedure of channeling the transactions through City Hall should have been done.
Another contentious issue was the fact that the Mayor handpicked the officials who accompanied him on the trip to China without bringing the matter before the City Council.
In addition, one councilor charged for the year so far, the Mayor has visited Korea in February and March, then Colombia and Panama in April, and then went to China from May 14 to 25, and then to the USA . “For the first six months of the year the Mayor made six trips…while garbage is piling up and workers are not being paid. We need to ensure that something is done about it,”
And so far he has not been accountable to City Hall for any of these trips. This is a very serious situation especially when one hears the regular grumbling that funds are not available to pay contracted garbage collectors and City Hall employees as well as to undertake projects to enhance the city.
In this regard, it is pertinent to note that the Mayor continues to call on the government to provide larger subventions to City Hall and perhaps he may have some degree of justification for such a request. However, how could the government gave more funds if there is not proper accountability by City Hall? No government would continue pouring tax payers’ money into a virtual “bottom less pit.”
But the Mayor was once a Prime Minister and considered the “strongman” of the regime of that era and therefore was never accountable to anyone except perhaps the “Kabaka” and maybe the behavior of that period is still with him. Whatever is the reason the councilors are dead right in the fact that under his stewardship Georgetown has reached a deplorable state.
One councilor and former Mayor of Georgetown charged that Green, as Mayor for the last 14 years, has not done anything of significance to bring about change for the city, “yet he clings like a leech rather than relinquish to [someone else].”
The mismanagement and failure of City Hall was revealed by the Burrowes Commission of Inquiry which made several recommendations, but here again there is a “spoke in the wheel” because they cannot be implemented because of the inability of City Hall to appoint a Town Clerk and Treasurer which are crucial posts.
So as the situation stands conditions in Georgetown would most likely continue to decline. It is a situation that is similar to the one where “Nero was fiddling while Rome was burning.”
The change in administration is inevitable even though it is anybody’s guess when this will happen. But one thing for sure and that is the new administration will have an unenviable and herculean task in clearing out the mess in our capital city.