–in city clean-up exercise

THE Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has complained that Minister Norman Whittaker of the Local Government and Regional Development (LGRD) Ministry has not consulted with them on the use of the $500M which the National Assembly recently earmarked for a massive ‘Clean Up’ Exercise in the city.

But a few days ago, Minister Whittaker indicated otherwise when he told reporters at the LGRD Ministry’s Fort Street, Kingston boardroom that the City Engineer had already provided that ministry with a list of machinery to be repaired under the project.

The Minister said a number of the M&CC’s garbage collection trucks, tractors and excavators are due for repairs, and when the project is completed, the M&CC would be in a position to continue maintenance of drains, disposal of solid waste, and the like.

“I am advised that he (the City Engineer) has provided the list of machinery to be repaired. We will be helping the City Council to enhance its ability to provide drainage, etc,” Minister Whittaker said.

But the M&CC is arguing that the LGRD Ministry has breached all democratic norms and has shown “disrespect” to the people of Georgetown, who elected the Mayor and Councillors (M&CC) as their representatives.

“As the Council understands it, the role of the Minister of Local Government is that of a facilitator for local democratic organs. He should not get involved in actually expending monies allocated for works in the City; this is the statutory responsibility of the duly elected Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, the people’s representatives.

“The Council is not aware of the plan and arrangement to expend what is essentially the people’s money (taxes) in the City. The Council does not know about the processes and approaches used by the Minster to hire men and equipment, to do works in different parts of Georgetown.

“In fact, the Council does not even know who are the people carrying out the works, the rates at which they are paid, and what measurements are used to evaluate their work. It is not clear whether the council is getting value for money,” the M&CC expressed.

The ‘Clean up Guyana’ project, for which $1B was provided for in the 2014 annual budget, will be completed by December 31, and is expected to significantly reduce flooding in the city, Whittaker has told reporters.

Whittaker has said that while the Georgetown City Council has been unable to desilt drains, the Clean-Up Guyana project will be dealing with those that are heavily silted, and will be removing garbage as well. In fact, attention will be paid to seven main canals, namely the Downer, Young Street, Lamaha Street, Princes Street, Caneview Avenue (that services South Ruimveldt), Church Street and the Irving Street canals.

Focus will also be given to small drains, Whittaker said, adding: “So as soon as the tide falls, you want to be able to get that excess water off.”

Key stakeholders identified to move the process forward, apart from the Local Government Ministry, are the Ministries of Natural Resources and the Environment; Public Works; Agriculture; Housing and Water; and Tourism. The private sector and local government bodies are also included, along with City Hall, civil society, community-based organizations and volunteer groups.

According to Whittaker, the objective of the activity is to enhance the physical environment. “At the end of this project”, he said, “the objective is not only to see Guyana looking clean, not only about placing us in a situation where the incidents of flooding are reduced significantly and totally, it is about sustaining it.”

The programme of activities comprise desilting drains and main canals; weeding and removing garbage; repairing kokers and sluices; eliminating illegal dumpsites by removing their piles of garbage; clearing cemeteries of bush; and planting trees and removing obstacles from parapets and reserves.
The LGRD Ministry would also be focusing, in some instances, on restoring public assets like kokers, sluices, main canals, roadside drains, parapets and alleyways; cemeteries, monuments, public open spaces, market areas, seawall and beaches; and clearing away garbage wherever it is found.

Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon recently informed that, of the $1B approved in the 2014 annual budget for implementing the ‘Clean-up Guyana’ programme, $500M would be spent in Georgetown, while the other $500M will be spent in coastal administrative regions.

Cabinet has, in principle, given approval for the Local Government Ministry to assume responsibility for expending the sum of money.

(By Telesha Ramnarine)