TOURISM and Hospitality Association of Guyana  (THAG)) is eminently concerned about the aesthetics of the capital city and the impression the ever-growing garbage pile-up makes on the minds of visitors from abroad.   Adamant over the present state of affairs, the organisaton  is now sending a clear message that the ‘pick it up’ campaign and short term approaches to the cleaning are not the answer to a problem that is growing effectively worse through years of neglect.
Consequently, THAG is calling on Government and other stakeholders to join forces and make a concerted effort to restore Georgetown to its former glory.
Speaking on behalf of THAG, which has highlighted this situation perpetually and seen no change, its Acting Vice-President, Mr. Kit Nascimento declared: “Pick-up campaigns and short term approaches to cleaning up the city because we have some special occasion or some other thing around the corner, is not going to work for us. The city of Georgetown has to be cleaned up in an organised and sustained way.”
He made the remarks as he addressed the gathering at  THAG’s New Year Social, last Friday, to celebrate its achievements in the year 2012 and unveil its 2013 plans, at Herdmanston Lodge, Lamaha and Peter Rose Streets, in Queenstown.
Amidst the celebrations, the down side was evidently the state of the capital and its impact on tourism as identified by two speakers, President of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Mr. Ronald Webster and Mr. Daniel Gajie, who spoke on behalf of the unavoidably absent Acting Minister of Tourism, Mr. Irfaan Ali.

STRONG REPRESENTATION
Nascimento said both THAG and the PSC have made very strong representation to Government to seriously address this issue.
“It is one of the biggest challenges that we all face collectively.  I think that those of us in the industry, those of us in the diplomatic community have now got to put our heads together and find a solution to a problem that is escalating from years of neglect,” he urged.
Nascimento declared that the stakeholders cannot continue to believe that they could successfully bring tourists to Guyana, the capital city or even places like Bartica, given the condition that they are in now.
For his part, he is particularly concerned and is working to make Guyana a tourist destination and he is confident he is going to succeed.
Nascimento, also a tour operator, said he has brought at least 15 yachts here over the past 12 months and the yachting community is now providing Guyana with a new stream of tourists.
Noting that yachters in the international community communicate with each other about where they have been  and what they have seen, he said it behoves people in Guyana to keep this in mind.
Nascimento said some of the yachters are, currently, in the Rupununi and would likely travel to the city before leaving Guyana.
PSC President Webster shared some of those sentiments, adding that, even though Guyana has had a relatively good tourism year and the industry is growing and beginning to make its mark, there is need to work on developing the Guyanese culture and promote it as part of the tourist attraction.   

VERY POSITIVE  
“We need to develop a culture in Guyana that is very positive and we now have to get all the citizenry involved in doing that,” he encouraged.
In this regard, Webster pointed to the many historic buildings and made a case for the care and preservation of them and other national monuments around the city. They need to be given a facelift, as all such things form part of the national culture and should not be ignored, since they are key to developing a proud tourist industry.
Meanwhile, Gajie, while lauding the many successes scored by the Tourism and Hospitality Sector, with significant increases in tourist arrivals during 2012, had one major disappointment.
“There are some problems we face and one of them is attracting a great deal of public attention. The capital city and the state of the country when it comes to waste disposal,” he remarked.
Concurring with both Nascimento and Webster, he said: “All of us are very worried and, indeed, concerned about the garbage situation.”
However, Gajie announced that Minister Ali has given Government’s commitment to clean up the city and lead the fight against the garbage situation.  
He said, though, that despite Government’s involvement, the restoration and beautification of Georgetown will take a lot of individual personal responsibility on the part of all stakeholders to make this positive transformation.  
Gajie said the bottom line is to get about restoring the civic pride of the Guyanese people and he indicated that proper garbage disposal, grass cutting, regular manicuring of lawns and beautifying the environment generally, are in the pipeline.
“That would be the model and initiative we are hoping to accomplish, doing so on a street by street or block by block basis, but it will take a lot of initiative,” he admitted.