WHILE several attempts were made in the past to have the City Hall building restored to its pristine state, Georgetown Mayor, Ubraj Narine, is of the view that the latest effort being piloted by him will have results.

“The EU report was submitted to me when I took office and I decided to work on it,” Narine told the Guyana Chronicle in an interview last week.

The mayor has said that he is unaware of all of the previous restoration projects that were launched, and will today launch a new one at City Hall. “I believe in the Chinese proverb that only a spark is needed to cause a fire, and I decided to form a restoration committee that includes the private sector, national trust, chambers of commerce, NICIL, Tourism, civil society and the general public,” the mayor said.

He informed that the terms of reference have already been crafted, and that a new bank account number was set up. In addition, drop boxes will be placed all across the country for donations towards the project.

Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle, had, in the past told the Guyana Chronicle that following inspections on City Hall building in 2015, certain recommendations were made. He had said that urgent steps were needed to rectify the problems there.

The building has gotten worse from 2015 to now, to the point where even from a layman’s view, there are clear signs of structural deficiencies. Gentle had said 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.

Some sections of the building have rotten boards which tend to come loose and fall off from time to time. The possibility of someone falling through the floor doesn’t exist in Council Chamber, where statutory meetings are held twice per month, City Engineer Colvern Venture had clarified some time ago.

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.