Dear Editor,
HAVING just returned from a business trip to the United States, where I observed a large percentage of small, medium and large businesses being very optimistic about the direction in which their business will go in the next 12 months, and also very satisfied with the welcoming environment being provided by the cities in which they have set up their business, the complications, hindrances and disadvantages of doing business in Georgetown became more glaring to me upon my return to our capital city.

In Atlanta, Georgia, my first stop, I first visited the new headquarters of Mercedes Benz-USA which only last year relocated its headquarters there, joining other Fortune 500 companies like the Home Depot, United Parcel Service, the Coca Cola Company, Delta Airlines, etc.

Many of the businesses I visited there indicated to me that one of the major motivational factors for moving there had to do with the City Council of Atlanta providing walkable neighbourhoods with bike lanes, safe public transit and a mix of good recreational amenities for their employees.

I observed the same kind of situation obtaining in other cities that I visited, where companies were setting up their headquarters and branch offices in cities that were safe, well laid out, gave tax breaks and incentives, maintained the infrastructure of their cities such as sufficient street lighting, maintenance of roads and bridges, provision of adequate security throughout the entire city but in particular the shopping areas and ensured that good public health practices were maintained.

And this situation is not only obtained in the USA but also in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asia, and China.
With the steeply increased property rates, shipping container taxes, spiked market stall rents and licenses for hairdressers, food handlers etc., the pending return of the draconian parking meter albatross, daily robberies around the municipal markets, the chaotic minibus situation in Georgetown, the mosquito infestation at nights, poor street lighting and blocked drains, surely the Georgetown City Council could not be interested in wooing businesses nor tourists to our capital. With local government elections fast approaching one can only hope for the best, however it seems that the more things change at City Hall, the more they remain the same.

Regards
Mark Roopan