…only solution is for the Council to resign and let an IMC run its affairs

THE deplorable state of affairs in the capital city continues to be of great concern to the People’s Progressive Party.Under the leadership of Mayor Hamilton Green, the Council seems incapable of dealing with the evident gross mismanagement, lack of accountability, corruption and the inability to provide even the most basic services to the citizens of Georgetown, the ruling party said in a statement yesterday.
“This PNC-style administration has been going on for too long and has reached a stage where the only rational solution is for the Council to resign.
“The PPP fully supports the establishment of an Interim Management Committee to manage the affairs of the capital city. The party is confident that an IMC comprised of committed, non-partisan persons, as was the case some years ago, is the only solution to the current problem. Such an IMC will get the full support of the population of Georgetown.
The PPP and the PPP/C Government will certainly support an IMC to clean up this monumental mess. Rather than grappling with this situation, especially the pile up of garbage throughout the city for years, Mayor Green and his supporters in the Council are more interested it seems in dabbling in petty politics and constant personal attacks on town clerks and other City officials, the PPP said.
The Mayor and the PNC/GGG councillors have never been satisfied with past town clerks and this is the case once again. Since Ms. Carol Sooba began acting as town clerk the infighting started; now that she has been confirmed as town clerk, after acting for almost two years, their attacks have intensified.
“The Council would like the citizens of Georgetown and Guyana to believe that the town clerk is the problem. On the contrary, the problem lies with the Council and its lack of leadership and being out of touch with the problems in the city. It is now time to move off from the town clerk and move on to City Council challenges and have them addressed.
“The most distressing aspect is the absence of a plan on the part of the Council on how to deal with the situation. The City of Georgetown is growing rapidly in many ways, but haphazardly; the council doesn’t have a plan to manage the waste generated, clogged drains and canals, deteriorating roads, collection of rates and taxes, building and health inspections, uncontrolled vending, traffic congestion, etc.
“Flooding in the city is getting unbearable, resulting in great losses to citizens and businesses. It has reached a point where the health, safety and property of citizens are in great danger. The Central Government has been making strenuous efforts to assist; it has been assisting in maintaining roads, buying pumps, cleaning of canals and disposing of garbage etc.; but this is being done outside of any plan and these efforts have had little effect.
“The Government has been at pains to point out that the Council needs to put its act together and involve all stakeholders to deal with this myriad of problems. However, they seem incapable of doing so, and so it has now come to the position that the only solution is for the Council to resign and let us have an IMC that can lead a national effort to build a modern city and satisfy the growing needs of the population” the PPP statement concluded.