Minister Parag

THE commitment of the government to advancing infrastructure development and improving citizens’ lives remains steadfast, despite the challenges posed by the inefficiencies of City Hall.
This resolute stance was emphasised by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Sonia Parag, during her visit on Monday to the site of the collapsed Stabroek Market.
Minister Parag clarified to the Guyana Chronicle that despite the mayor and City Hall’s ongoing failure to enhance the city’s environment and infrastructure for its residents and vendors, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) remains dedicated to serving all Guyanese.

“Like I would have said to the mayor on the day of the collapse of the wharf, this is the full responsibility of him and the city council. And the mayor knows that he hasn’t been here checking out this area; otherwise, he would have known that people were residing here when they shouldn’t have,” the Local Government Minister said “As President Ali stated in his initial comment, he is committed to looking at the city’s assets to see what assets we have and what interventions we will make as a government. President Ali also stated that day that we are looking to first of all remove the collapsed building, which is the rubble, followed by the rebuilding of the structure.”

In recognition of their substantial inconvenience and lack of proper lavatory facilities, Minister Parag also noted that the government will be building washrooms for the vendors very soon.
She stated that the government plans to redo the two washrooms in the Stabroek Market. The purpose is to ensure that the vendors have improved facilities to use. “This is something that we have also committed to doing, and it will be done very shortly.”

Furthermore, Minister Parag provided an update stating that all the rubble on the western side of the Stabroek wharf has been successfully cleared, and the second phase of the ‘action plan’ has now commenced, with minimal disruption to the nearby vendors.

The Minister said, “I am pleased to say that the rubble and debris from the collapsed section of the wharf have been cleared and the second phase of the action plan that we initially implemented has begun. That is, the dilapidated building that was poised as a risk for market vendors and bystanders has been demolished at very little inconvenience to the people who are trying to earn a living.”

Considering the amount of progress that was made in a matter of days by the labourers, Minister Parag expressed her gratitude to all involved for their commitment to seeing the work through.
“We are incredibly pleased with the amount of progress that we have made on the wharf and with the ongoing work. On behalf of myself and Minister Indar, we would like to thank the teams from the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Public Works, and all of the men out here who, working very hard to manually clear the rubble, removed it completely in a matter of days. This includes the ongoing work on the demolished building.“This was not a walk in the park for any of us, but it goes to show that as your government, if we say that we will get something down, we will get it done,” Minister Parag explained.

Minister Parag is urging the public, particularly those at the market or nearby, to avoid going near the construction areas due to ongoing work.
She urged the local residents and the general public to stay away from the areas. The area is still blocked off due to the ongoing construction work to ensure no one gets hurt.
In his recent press conference, the General Secretary and Vice President of the People’s Progressive Party Civic, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, stated that the central government has taken on the mayor and city council of Georgetown’s primary duties of maintaining the city’s infrastructure and beautifying green spaces.

According to Dr. Jagdeo, the incident was attributed to the “failure of the city council,” while in reality, the central government has been taking on several of the council’s duties. The Vice President said in part, “Every single thing that should be done in the city by law is part of their (city council) mandate…but the central government has to take over.”