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Homestretch Avenue ‘jungle’ an example of Govt’s bad planning
– AFC Presidential Candidate
The unsightly ‘green zone’ along the Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown is a perfect example of the very bad planning of Government and the stark division between the current Administration and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), says Presidential Candidate of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjatan.
He asserted that those are major contributing factors for the suffering of the City.
“Instead of having a green scenic view that would have been pleasing to the eyes and healthy for the environment, the residents of Georgetown are forced to live near a jungle that provides living accommodation for junkies, a dumpsite for garbage and breeding grounds for disease carrying mosquitoes,” Ramjatan stated.
Ramjatan emphasized that to correct this situation, consultations should be done with the M&CC and residents to ascertain what would be the best project there and to determine other projects to develop other areas around Georgetown.
Millions of dollars were already invested in that area for the development of a recreational facility but the project was squashed and taxpayers’ money was once again wasted, he stressed.
Ramjatan enlightened that it is his view that a park similar to that of the National Park should be constructed in that area, replacing the ‘bushy eye sore’ Government calls a ‘pristine jungle’.
The Park would have asphalted concrete edges and be well landscaped internally with leveled grounds, and sections for various sports and socials, he asserted.
Ramjatan added that Georgetown used to be the Garden City but today it is disorganized, has no proper recreational facility for citizens, and is poorly kept.
He posited that the Greater Georgetown 2001 to 2010 plan would have seen the modernization of Georgetown, including the development of that stretch into a recreational facility.
Unsightly ‘green zone’ along Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown
However, it is very unfortunate that Government is not implementing that plan and as a matter of fact many more plans that would see the development of Guyana. He said for that reason the Municipal elections is necessary.
“What happened to the Greater Georgetown plan would be reflected in Government’s 2011 to 2016 plans- nothing will be done in the interest of the citizens”.
He added that it is known that Government, like the M&CC has financial problems, but there are private companies including Digicel and Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company that could come on board to help finance the project.
In addition, Guyana receives billions of dollars in revenue from the Guyana Lottery Fund and that should be used for that project but there is no accountability of how money from that fund is being spent, Ramjatan stressed.
In August 2006, Cabinet gave its no-objection to the award of $45M from the Guyana Lottery Fund to finance the initial phase of this project, which included land filling and minor drains.
However, after investing large sums of money to sand fill a section of the area the project was abruptly stopped. In 2008, Dr. Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, stated that, “The view is to retain D’Urban Park as a ‘green area,’ and no matter what we do, to minimally maintain that zone… we would be cutting the grass and whatever is introduced in the area.”
He also stated that Guyanese should not expect to see any ‘high rise building or anything else’ in that area, as it has been declared a ‘green zone’.
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