MAYOR Hamilton Green and his supporting members in the Georgetown City Council seemingly have brought the destructive, deconstructive PNC administrative style to the City Council construct; and the results are evident, as they were under the governance of Guyana under the PNC for decades of deceleration in Guyana’s socio-economic developmental paradigm.

Peace-loving Dr. Cheddi Jagan, who normally addresses public affairs with great rectitude, in both language and actions, was once provoked into describing the cabal as “A bunch of rascals.”
The Clean-Up-My-Country campaign would have no long-term effect on the environment if there is no sustainability; and everyone knows that with the current City Council, this is a vain hope.
Of recent years, Guyana’s Tourism Sector has been increasingly accelerating; thus it is imperative that Guyana’s Capital City is once again being transformed into the pristine, beautifully-landscaped, glorious and charming city that was justifiably called ‘The Garden City’.
Under the PNC and Hammie Green’s watch, the nation agonised as the city inexorably devolved into a huge, noxious garbage dump, prone to flooding and infestation of disease-carrying wildlife, and now notorious as ‘The Garbage City’.
However, the government has been working in collaborative efforts with the Private Sector to create joint-venture initiatives in restructuring policies and programmes geared toward the re-introduction of the high standards of yesteryear that were once an integral part of the Guyanese consciousness.
To quote our national poet, Martin Carter, “All are involved; all are consumed.” And consumed we will be if we do not, with celerity, find a common ground where all the forces in this country work together towards the common goal of building this country of ours into a cohesive unit, striving toward national prosperity.
And our Capital City of Georgetown should take precedence as a matter of urgent national priority, for reasons of both health and national income-generation concerns.
In 1994, a civil society group comprising Bish Panday, Tony Xavier (then representing the Fernandes Group of Companies), Beni Sankar, Bert Carter, Sheila George, Leila Ramson, Rocky Mann, Fitz Edwards, Andy Moore, amongst others, formed the Interim Management Committee (IMC), with Dr. James Rose as Chairman.
Within a short duration, Georgetown was transformed into, if not a pristine city, at least a city from which the garbage had been cleared, and systems implemented for the smooth functioning of the Council. That is, a Council that was prepared to work with commitment and honesty.
However, that proved to be a pipe dream, because the City, left again in the hands of the Georgetown City Council, has once more become a massive dumpsite reeking of filth and decay, despite periodic injections of substantial subventions from Central Government, along with huge revenues collected through normal channels.
Consistent revelations of misconduct anent the financial arrangements of the Council exposed the circuitry and conduits by way of which the money was siphoned away from works in the city into areas for which it was not intended; areas from which the city cannot benefit.
The IMC had assumed responsibility of the city with an overdraft of $38 million. When it disbanded, the City had a credit of $6 million. Mr. Hamilton Green became Mayor of Georgetown. And the rest is history.
Until Local Government Elections are held, there is need for another interim management committee, comprising dynamic figures as those in the IMC of yesteryear, to coordinate the Herculean task of restoring this city once more to some semblance of its former glory days.
This latest initiative of Government to involve communities in the environmental clean-up exercises is a step in the right direction; now there should be a programme to ensure sustainability; and an educational component, beginning in homes and schools, whereby the training begins and is developed.
With Carol Sooba overseeing the affairs of the City, and a functional management structure, there could be hope that Guyanese could once more boast about their Garden City and that Guyana could become a primary tourism destination, with our Capital City being the major attraction.