THE central government will once again intervene to revive the capital city, Georgetown, which has been neglected by the Opposition-controlled Mayor and City Council (M&CC), according to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.

The age-old issue of garbage collection, which has been overlooked by the council, is being taken into President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s hands, Dr. Jagdeo stated at a press conference on Thursday last at Freedom House.

Dr. Jagdeo said, “We can’t allow the city to deteriorate.” He said the President will lead a task force that will comprise public sector, civil society and private sector members.

“We have to do it even if they don’t collaborate,” the General Secretary, who also serves as Guyana’s Vice President, said. Dr. Jagdeo said that the M&CC is ignoring the pile-up of garbage in order to pin the blame on the government. The central government has taken the burden of M&CC’s responsibilities by creating recreational facilities, fixing and building roads, cleaning drains and building a dump site, leaving the organisation with one responsibility- to collect garbage.

“The only thing they were supposed to do is to pick up the garbage, and take it to the dumpster, because nothing else they don’t focus on,” Jagdeo said.
He lambasted the opposition-led City Hall for leaving residents underserved and frustrated and noted that the government’s efforts to improve the city’s landscape and citizens’ quality of life will not be hindered by political obstruction.

“You have the PNCR/AFC running City Hall. They’re a failure. They’ve been a failure at the national level. They’re a failure there, too. They complain about everything. They’re not accountable. They don’t focus on the citizens, and had it not been for the central government’s massive injection into the city, this would have been a very different place.”