– Fire Service calls for urgent intervention

WITH Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase-Green calling City Hall a fire hazard, with pieces of it often falling away, it is not clear at the moment just how safe the building is for workers and for citizens going there to do business.
The Mayor, a few days ago, called attention to the fact that given the deplorable state of the building, it can go up in flames “within seconds” at the slightest hint of an electrical problem.

Furthermore, she said the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) had advised that the M&CC workers relocate from the building.

But after learning that that was not such a good idea, as it may deteriorate faster if everyone moves out, Chase-Green said they decided to remain.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told the Guyana Chronicle in an invited comment that the Service did some inspection on the building back in 2015 and made some recommendations.
He noted that urgent steps are needed to rectify the problems there, and that the Service is standing by its recommendations.

The building has obviously gotten worse from 2015 to now, to the point where even from a layman’s view, there are clear signs of structural deficiencies.
Gentle observed that the current state of the building can pose a danger not only to M&CC staff, but to citizens going to pay their bills as well.

However, in an invited comment, City Engineer, Colvern Venture told this publication that he believes that City Hall’s physical structure in itself is “fairly ok”. What is, however, contributing to the deterioration of the building, he said, is the leaky roof.
He said certain sections can indeed go up in flames easily, but for these areas, the M&CC has decided to shut off all electrical supplies.

Some sections of the building also have rotten boards which tend to come loose and fall off from time to time, Venture said. The possibility of someone falling through the floor doesn’t exist in Council Chamber, where statutory meetings are held twice per month.
The likelihood of that happening, he said, is in the Concert Hall, located just above the Council Chamber on the third floor of the building, where persons are no longer allowed to go.

Town Clerk Royston King said just a few days ago that the M&CC would need more than $400M to effectively restore the City Hall to its former pristine state.
The European Union this past week teamed up with the National Trust of Guyana to fund a two-day stakeholder workshop for the Comprehensive Restoration Plan and Sustainable Conservation Management Plan for City Hall.

Following the completion of the plan and its handing over to City Hall, Phase Two of the project will be to find funding to get the actual works done.
The mayor, in speaking at the event, said they have been trying with the building for more than 20 years now, and spoke about the extent of its deterioration by pointing out how pieces of the building are always falling off, and how the ladies shoe heels are often caught in the flooring.