MY mother keeps reminding me of this “garden city.”  We hear the cries every day about the garbage in our city and country as a whole.  The need for a total solution in the management of our capital city is way overdue.   We can blame local government elections; we can blame the Mayor; we can blame the government, but at the end of the day without a public-private partnership between, government, citizens and businesses in critical areas of improvement, our hope of this “garden city rebirth” is about to end. There are no rules anymore of what can be built in residential areas.  We see large businesses going up in areas such as Queenstown and other areas.  Our sewer system was not designed for such heavy traffic – (pun intended) much less the accumulation of garbage.
The vision and goal for celebrating this anniversary of our republic should be a renewal and revitalisation of our capital.  As I wrote in my column years ago, we need to ask ourselves as we walk around our city, what more can we do to make our capital city more attractive, what are the changes needed to improve the city council’s management and the necessary plans to implement to create value-added industries in order for there to be higher-paying jobs.
I propose in the case of Georgetown that we shift the emphasis to public-private partnerships to stimulate economic growth and revitalisation. The US-based international advocacy group, the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships (NCPPP) identifies five critical components of any successful Public-Private Partnership (P3): political leadership; public sector involvement; a well thought-out plan; communications with stakeholders and selecting the right partners. These elements can become the building blocks of a strategy for Georgetown P3 initiatives.
Much of the budget discussion and our continuing political tension and impasse make it clear a new solution is needed. The guiding principle behind P3 initiatives is the imperative of working together. In my military background and even in my business experience, I’ve found that the “force multiplier” effect of teaming or building the right group of products or people to solve problems is critical for success in today’s global marketplace.
In an environment of struggling public services and deepening city woes, it is time for the private sector working with a competent council to reach out in positive ways to identify “building blocks” projects that will be fundamental to getting the city kicked into overdrive. We need to factor-in the Brazilian private sector into areas such as expanding our river port to accommodate larger ships.
Imagine a downtown Georgetown revitalisation project where areas such as Water Street become vibrant again.  The recent movie theatre is a great start.  Examples abound of international success stories where development of previously problematic or under-utilised real estate did extraordinarily good for the economy. Think of taking a stroll along the banks of the Demerara River on a well manicured and lighted cycle and walking/jogging path from the Stabroek Market to let’s say Mc Doom, which is about 3.5 km (2 miles) away.
I have mentioned this before. A good example that has some interest given Guyana’s limited forays into the cruise ship trade is that of the Galveston, Texas P3. To meet the growing demand for cruise ship capacity and to rapidly capitalise on the economic benefits to the local and state economy and tax base – the Port of Galveston formed a P3 with Royal Caribbean, Carnival and CH2M HILL in 2002 to expand cruise ship service and facilities. The P3 involved starting a “third party” legal entity to hold cruise line contracts and the lease with the port. The private sector provided up-front investment in exchange for commercial terms regarding return on its investment. The public sector conserved its capital funds, while receiving increased revenues from growth in related employment and business revenues. The success of the Galveston P3 has helped the port to continue its phenomenal growth, accrue benefits to the local and state economy, and take a leadership position in the cruise industry. Developing a similar P3 project can see our Georgetown port develop to international standards with amenities such as a “Boardwalk” featuring restaurants and stores.
There are other big- impact projects that a new Georgetown Council could consider that could have an immediate effect in Georgetown:
establish a tourism development zone for the entire city of Georgetown and grant incentives to build P3 Initiatives for the waterfront and the seawall;establish a public services P3 working group to develop projects in public service delivery to include making as many city services as possible, including collection of city taxes available online; improving the efficiency of the process of applying for and getting approvals for development projects in the city and development of a training initiative for young workers that tries as much as possible to use the existing physical educational infrastructure in the city as well as internet delivery.
These initiatives can become the “building blocks” of a new Georgetown. We are not going to solve our problems overnight, but we must begin somewhere to make a positive difference for the young people of our nation, and in this case those resident in Georgetown who have not yet known progress in our land.  All these examples serve to illustrate that good things can happen when we work together. I firmly believe that those of us in the private sector can join each other and build goodwill with the public sector to make P3 initiatives brighten the future of Georgetown and Guyana.
Other critical areas must include, a derelict property programme; re-evaluation of our rates and taxes system; feasibility study of a light rail system along Regent Street to create a car/bus free shopping zone; programmes to beautify our city and a public parks revitalisation project among others.
Rain ah fall ah roof you put barrel fuh ketch am. (Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way) Guyanese proverb