THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown has received the third cycle of the $10M from Central Government yesterday, Town Clerk (Ag) Ms Yonette Pluck told the Guyana Chronicle.

This sum would be used to carry out landscaping and general enhancement works in Newtown, Kitty, Lodge and other areas in the City.

After works were completed with the first two cycles of the grant, the Council has established a ‘roaming team of men’ who revisit those areas to do maintenance works.

In an invited comment yesterday, City Hall’s Public Relations Officer Mr. Royston King said the municipality is providing Central Government with a good level of satisfaction in connection with the monthly grant.

King said the Council has so far been fulfilling all its requirements in keeping with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which stated that the financial support will be disbursed on a monthly basis on condition that the Council satisfies the Government of Guyana with a proper work programme.

Things are going pretty smoothly between the municipality and Central Government and this is the way it should be because at the end of the day, we need to work towards providing a healthy and secure environment for all the citizens of Georgetown,” King said.

According to him, the officers at the municipality are very happy to have this kind of collaboration with Government which works out to the benefit of everyone.

However, he pointed out that the Council uses some of its own money when carrying out various projects so as to ‘offer people a package.’

King explained that when works commence in an area, the Council does not just focus on upgrading parapets and the like, but would provide health and other services at the same time.

We’re also going in with our public health people, doing spraying, vector control work…also looking at mosquito control and a number of other environmental work, as well as engineering work,” King said.

He further explained that the $10M grant is not being released on a monthly basis mainly because of the processes involved in accessing another portion of the money.

He observed that this is also the case at the level of the Government since their release is based on the reports submitted by the Council.

As such, he said it is imperative for the municipality to submit proper records as there must be transparency and proper accountability while highlighting the fact that more time is required in a community at times as compared with what was initially planned.

We don’t want to go in to a community and just because a particular time limit is set to get out, we leave all kinds of things undone. In addition to the timeline, it’s about providing quality service,” King posited.

When this happens, he said the schedule is pushed back hence the reporting period is affected.

King, however, expressed the hope that the officers at the Council may get better in terms of submitting reports.

He added that the Council has received good cooperation from residents in the various communities and that it welcomes the help residents offer in monitoring the works being done.

King is urging citizens who may have clarifications or questions to call in on telephone number 225-2218 and speak to any member of the Public Relations Unit at City Hall.

Residents are also encouraged to share their observations with the Council.

Earlier this year, President Bharrat Jagdeo signed an MOU with the Municipality so that it can access $10M on a monthly basis to assist with expenditure on capital works around the City.

The MOU states that the Government is desirous of further supporting the M&CC in improving the quality of life of the citizens of Georgetown and its aesthetic standards as well as delivering its support through means that promote labour intensive activities.