AT a public forum he organised on Friday last, Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green opined that it would take “Divine intervention” to restore Georgetown to a garden-like state.
He then proceeded to ask attendees at the forum to spare a few seconds to say a personal prayer for the future of the city.

As is customary, religious leaders of the three main faiths in Guyana were called upon to open the forum with prayers, but before long, Public Relations Officer Royston King was asking everyone, on the mayor’s behalf, to offer an individual prayer for the city.
Though repeatedly promising to be “peaceful” during his address, the Mayor used his time to criticise the government, as he usually does, and to refer to the circumstances that prevailed when he was a boy and was under the ‘Burnham Government.’
As daunting as it may seem to restore Georgetown to its garden-like condition, Green posited that the task is achievable once “stupidity and bias” are removed from stakeholders.
He, however, remains optimistic, he said.
Among the topics he spoke about yesterday are the “micro-management of the council by ministers,” sister city relations with other municipalities; other management issues; the garbage crisis; and the council’s government-rejected efforts to earn money and broaden its revenue base.
Green said he wanted the public to know about the efforts City Hall had made to keep the city clean.
Green deemed it unfortunate that local government elections have not been held since 1994, and that half of the elected council are now resting in the Le Repentir cemetery whilst the others are on their way there.

Stain and shame
“A stain and a shame” remains on all citizens, he offered, because of the non holding of local government elections. He pleaded with the public to inform the government that sacrifices ought to be made on this matter.
Meanwhile, the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2013, No. 3 of 2013, was tabled last Thursday, January 10, in the National Assembly, seeking to extend the date on which local government elections may be held.
Should it become an Act, the bill would be deemed to have come into operation on November 1, 2012. It also states that local government elections are next due before December 1, 2013, and that the minister may “on request of a Local Democratic Organ or on his instructions, authorise at any time the holding of the election for a Mayor, Deputy Mayor, or a Chairman or Deputy Chairman of a Local Democratic Organ”.
Despite the tabling of this bill, and amidst the opposition’s call for local government elections to be held in Guyana, their support is still pending on the final four bills that seek to address the holding of these elections.
Support of the opposition parties will determine whether these elections are held in 2013, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr Ganga Persaud, said at a recent press conference.
The four bills: the Fiscal Transfers Bill; the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill; the Local Government (Amendment) Bill and the Local Government Commission Bill, are at the level of the Select Committee, in which the opposition has a majority.
Minister Persaud is not optimistic that, given opposition domination of the Select Committee, the bills would be supported. He had recently pointed to the fact that, during the 10th Parliament, opposition members had avoided attending the meeting at the Select Committee level, thereby causing bills not to be thoroughly dealt with; and he is not confident that the Committee would not do likewise in 2013.
Nevertheless, he assured that the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development stands ready to hold the election, and to ensure that all the legal and administrative frameworks necessary for the elections are in place, or can be quickly put in place.
Minister Persaud had tabled the four bills in the National Assembly in 2012, but the bills did not receive opposition support and were instead sent to a select committee.