New Deputy Mayor plans returning City to former glory
-and addressing garbage situation
SHE cannot stand dishonesty in persons, because, at every level of her life, she strives to be honest with others. She lives by the motto, “What the mind of a man can conceive and believe, he can achieve,” and this has indeed helped her to many achievements in her life. Meet the recently appointed Deputy Mayor of Georgetown, Mrs. Patricia Chase-Green, who last month turned 60 but still looks 20 years younger, and still retains the zest and energy she had when she became a City Councillor 17 years ago.
Chase-Green was born in New Amsterdam, but came to Georgetown at the age of 12. She attended the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School, where she wrote the Preliminary Certificate and College of Preceptors examinations. Shortly after, she started taking shorthand and typing classes, and at a very early age, started working as a nurse-aid at the Belle Vue Hospital here in the city. She then went on to work at the Woodlands Hospital for a short period, before enlisting to serve in the paramilitary Guyana National Service (GNS) for a period of five years.
“I am very grateful to them (GNS) for the discipline I received there. That helped me to be a more rounded person,” she told the Chronicle in a recent interview at the City Hall.
In 1978, she started training as a practical nurse at the then Public Hospital Georgetown (PHG) where she also studied midwifery. In all, she spent about 12 years working at that hospital, and after resigning, went over to Banks DIH Limited in 1989, where she has been employed to this present time.
Chase-Green did a number of programmes at the University of Guyana, including the Occupational Safety and Health programme and the Emergency Medical Technician programme.
In addition to being a City Councillor, she is also a member of the Central Board of Health, the National Library, and the Guyana Boxing Board of Control, besides being a community worker who seeks to help the youths in her neighbourhood to become better persons.
Chase-Green plans to retire from her industrial nursing job at Banks DIH Ltd at the end of this month. She will then be able to focus on her responsibilities as Deputy Mayor, and may even take up other forms of employment. She has a few offers before her currently, but wants to take some time off for herself, after working for so many years.
“I want to relax for a while after working for so many years, and come back with renewed energy. I still have the zest and the energy to work, and there are so many young people in the city who need help; but I need to take a rest before venturing into another job.”

Appointment
Chase-Green is not promising to follow entirely in the footsteps of late Deputy Mayor Robert Williams, but pledges to be herself and do the things that she personally wants to see get done. She spoke about how grateful she was to the councillors who supported her and expressed confidence in her to the point of appointing her to the position.
“When I came in first as a councillor, I had so much energy and so many ideas to work towards. Along the road, there have been a lot of political ups and downs, but I think now the council has settled and we’re willing to overcome those challenges and work in the interest of the city.”
Her duties include functioning in the absence of the mayor. She remains a councillor, but once the mayor is not around, she is entitled to carry out all of his duties. The running of the city is not an easy task, she observed, and hence there is definitely a need for the sharing of responsibilities.

Big plans
Chase-Green has big plans for Georgetown. Her desire is for citizens to have a city that can be admired; and in this vein, she noted, the garbage situation that pops up ever so often will have to be addressed.
“Also, (I want) to ensure that all our parks, playfields and avenues (are restored). As a child, when I was taken for walks in the avenues and gardens to listen to the police band, that beautiful atmosphere that we had (in which) you could easily go down the avenue and have a seat, I would love to see those avenues done over.
“I would love to see the children in all the communities having their playfields to play (in), and they’re not taken over by the forests we see now. In any part of the world, the city is the first place people look to get an idea of the country.
“People come to Georgetown and think Georgetown (in its present state) is the country of Guyana. No, it’s not! We have other beautiful places that (they) can visit. But the image that you see in the city is the one you will take with you all the time. I would like to see how best we could change this image, so we could all admire it and live comfortably in it,” she disclosed.

Family
Chase-Green has been in a wonderful relationship with her husband Terrence Green for the past 40 years, twenty-eight of which they have been married. Mr. Green has always been supportive of her, but it gets to him when plans are scrapped because of his wife’s busy schedule.
Richard, Sherma, and Terrence Jnr., are her three children, of whom she is very proud. From them, she has been fortunate to have five grandchildren. “I have achieved a lot, and I’m instilling in my grandchildren that the sky is the limit for them and that if you can even go beyond the sky to see what’s there, challenge it and do it! And I have some wonderful grandchildren who are doing very well in school,” she commented.
She also loves her two sisters and brother dearly, especially because they were there for her during times of trouble. “My eldest brother (Michael Pereira, Director at Banks) is my mentor. I’m grateful to him, and I have always looked up to him.
“Even though we had struggles in our childhood, we were all able to have decent jobs and a decent education. Both our parents ensured this, and both are deceased. I enjoyed my country life.
“My only disappointment is that the (old) New Amsterdam Hospital was dismantled. As a child, I always admired the architecture of the building. But I still have a love for my hometown, New Amsterdam. I still have that sentimental (feeling) and I hope one day it will rise above all the problems it has now and go back to those (glory) days.”

Outward appearance
Chase-Green often comes across as a very serious individual — a no-nonsense person who can be quite intimidating at times. And she concurs with this assessment. “Persons may feel I’m not approachable and may be fearful of coming forward to me, but when they do make contact with me, they realize it’s not what they see on the outside.
“Sometimes you’re not always in the laughing mood, and may have your face serious the same time somebody wants to talk to you. Once they get to know me, though, (they realize that) I’m approachable. The facial look is just the facial look. It’s not the person who they may see.”
Chase-Green said nothing displeases her as much as dishonesty does. “Not only in stealing, but if I ask you a question, be honest and give me an honest answer. Don’t be untruthful to me in an answer. Dishonesty upsets me greatly, because I believe that ‘honesty is the best policy.’ It (dishonesty) just trips me.”
She is a very plain-spoken individual who tells it like it is. However, this does not mean that she would burden herself with malice.
“After I speak to you, I’m done with it, because I like to be a free-minded person and not carry a burden for somebody else.”
Her hobbies include nursing, boxing, reading, and listening to music.

In ten years
Asked where she sees herself in ten years’ time, Chase-Green responded: “I still hope to look the same way as I do, have the same energy that I do, because age is just a number; and therefore, I would like to be of the same value to society as I am now, where I can still offer services to anyone who needs help. I’ll still be vibrant and up and running; still have the energy.”
Chase-Green would not call anything in her life a mistake. She has no regrets, and could say: “I had challenges, but if I had to live my life all over again, I’m quite certain I would charter the same course if the same persons would have been in my life.”
Asked how she was coping with the recent tragedy in her life, wherein bandits invaded her home and traumatized the family before making off with items, Chase-Green said the effects were more emotional.
“When the night comes, there’s that fear that you will find someone in your home again. They have totally invaded my privacy. My grandson is still affected by it, because he’s still afraid to get up and go to the washroom at night.
“It’s not an easy experience, but I will not let that get me down. Apprehending that guy brought some kind of closure; but on the emotional side, that will take some time, because, as you move around the house, you feel as though there is somebody else there.”
She was high in praise for the Guyana Police Force (GPF), which almost immediately responded to the Green family’s call for help on the night of the burglary.