IN the Guyanese psyche, over the centuries, there have existed some dreams which exuded optimism that buoyed spirits and morale and helped Guyanese People to successfully exist with the harsh realities of life. The most known of these is “El Dorado,” which is closely linked with the idea that Guyana is a land of rich resources of every kind, which is waiting to be uncovered and developed and will one day bring great wealth to the country and people. A dream of more recent vintage is that Guyana would have a new and very modern capital city somewhere in the interior, not growing organically like Georgetown, but planned like Brasilia or Washington, D. C.
From decade to decade, even in the harsh days of World War II and of dictatorial government privations, and even when Guyanese settled in foreign lands, these optimistic dreams gave them morale and self-respect. Then suddenly, in the first two decades of the 21st century, these dreams began to materialise: the soil of Guyana began to bring forth hundreds of tons of gold and the forests began to earn foreign exchange and oil and gas resources began to be developed and a new annexe to the capital city has begun to materialise.
This new city is at present known as Silica City and 3,800 acres of land situated in the upper reaches of the East Bank of the Demerara River between Soesdyke and Timerhi have been allocated for it. House lots are being marked out and enquiries are already being made regarding purchasing land in the area. It is projected that in about 20 years, the new city will house 50,000 people. It must be remembered that old Georgetown with 60,000 people, was a town that provided a rich and comfortable life for its inhabitants. There were edifices such as the Public Buildings, the Victoria Law Courts, the Stabroek Market, St George’s Cathedral, the Town Hall, a fine Public Library, the Assembly Rooms Theatre and Concert Hall, a number of good education institutions such as Queens College, efficient garbage disposal, piped water, a garden city where colourful birds lived, a recreational seawall area, a famed Botanical Gardens, and so on. The present population of 300,000 of Georgetown came about when there was a massive emigration from the countryside from the 1950s and the city was legally expanded to include large areas of the East Bank and East Coast Demerara. It was largely the poor administration that took over the city from the early 1960s which destroyed the douceur of Old Georgetown.
The new city is not meant to replace Georgetown as the capital. Dr Ashni Singh has shown in patient detail why this is economically prohibitive at this stage. Silica City would be creating an urban centre supplementing Georgetown and meeting the environmental criteria that Georgetown finds so difficult and expensive. For example, climate change with its rising sea levels would not be a problem for Silica City.
The new city would be planned on broad lines and not minutely, since this would provide an opportunity for organic growth. In the formal planning, there would be residential and non-residential districts. It would be compact and pedestrian-oriented with streetscape designs. A famous example of a specially designed street is the Champs Elysees in Paris. The transportation system would accommodate both private and public vehicles and would avoid the parking problems of Georgetown for the foreseeable future. The drainage system would be different from Georgetown, which is below sea level. The educational, recreational and sporting areas would be extensive enough to accommodate growth and there would never be a shortage of land as occurred in Georgetown in the Thomas Lands/Eve Leary area. Indeed, there would be more than one site to cater for such activities. There would be a golf course and an eco-industrial park. The garbage disposal would be carefully planned so there would be no recurrence of the problems of Georgetown. For example, there would be a separation of types of garbage and recycling.
The city, from the start, would be using the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and would be powered by solar, hydropower and possibly wind power, which would be healthier and cheaper and synchronising with Guyana’s international commitments, such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
There would be the avoidance of utility poles and pipes going willy nilly over the city, since there would be a shared utility corridor routed underground.
A very large agricultural area, “a backdam,” should be allotted to farmers who will keep cows and other livestock to supply the city with fruits and vegetables and milk and meat. In Old Georgetown, La Penitence and Ruimveldt, now turned into housing areas, were used for that purpose.
In the new city, as had been done in Old Georgetown, the house lots allotted should be large enough to have backyards where fruit trees and kitchen gardens could be cultivated with space in front yards for flower gardens. With so many fruit trees, birds of every type flourished in Old Georgetown and one woke up in the mornings to the sound of birdsongs and the sight of colourful birds. When Georgetown began as Stabroek, it had 5,000 or 6,000 inhabitants and in its glorious days when it provided a rich and civilised life for its inhabitants, it had 60,000 citizens as had been pointed out above. Silica City could certainly emulate some of Old Georgetown.
