A suggestion on how to clean up the city

May 07, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I respond to the comments of the Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh which was aired on the Seven o’clock Newscast (Seven Hours Newscast) on NCN Radio on the 19-4-2010, in which he stated that there is a need to establish some form of a committee to get the city cleaned up, and address the garbage problem, as it is felt that such was responsible for the recent floods.
Recently I was contemplating the idea to formulate a committee to address such matters, and even other concerns that may reach into areas further afield. The committee would be known as the Empowerment Committee, which would have a wide sweeping mandate to effect projects and to expedite works.
In this time of grave natural disasters, such a committee would not just he handy to such pursuits, but may be found to be imperative in such a time of need. The early functioning of such a committee that I am contending which should be formulated urgently, is not just intended to address the issues of urgent concern, such as the state of the city in relation to the pile up of garbage and the drainage system being clogged up by garbage.
I have often thought that what is needed other than money, is the development of certain types of machinery that would be able to Vacuum Clean the city and its outlying environs as well as the water top of drains and canals of the drainage system.
Having a requisite and efficient work force in places like the cleansing department of the town and city councils, would make the job easier of cleaning up the city and townships as well as the outlying areas. The Empowerment Committee would serve in vitally important and essential areas where action is urgently needed as in the case of such situations. The Empowerment Committee should have as members, representatives from the UNDP, in the form of maybe the Resident representative, who may deputise a representative of the UN, such as a representative from the: UN Environmental Department, or a delegate from the World Health Organisation (WHO), there would be a position for the “Resident Representative of the Inter American Development Bank, who in turn could delegate a representative or representatives of the bank.
There would also be a position for the Resident Representative of the World Bank who would enjoy similar privileges. There would also be a position for the Organisation of American States, as well as a position for the USAID, along with a position for CIDA, as well as one for the Pan American Health Organisation, the Civil Defence Commission, and the Judiciary, as well as from the Guyana Council of Churches, and the Minister of Finance, who would enjoy similar privileges.
The Empowerment Committee would be supported by a Sub-committee, that would be known as a Review Board, along with a Works and Projects Department, consisting of a logistics office, a field and works office, and a finance office. The Sub-committee would be responsible for the review of projects and works to be carried out, as well as the appraisal of projects and works upon a quarterly basis, which would in turn submit annual reports to the Empowerment Committee, that shall meet once a year to make decisions on what projects are to be undertaken, as well as urgent and important works, also to appropriate finances and to disburse funding.
The creation of a consolidated fund to be kept by the State Treasury e.g., if a fund is made and it stands at US$50 million, the government can acquire the fund in about 12 by paying US$1 million per quarter; the government would earn the interest on that amount, whereas the aid agencies would be earning the interest as they had put up the money. The government could reduce the time framework by double or even triple the amount, as the government pays toward acquisition of the fund they would earn the interest on the amounts paid to the treasury.
This sort of an arrangement is aside from the arrangements of payment towards the actual loan itself, as such a special arrangement would be made between the Treasury and the Bank of Guyana, so that the interest can be compatible to the requirements of the Bank of Guyana, since the disbursement of funds to the Empowerment Committee would come mainly from the Bank of Guyana; the deposit at the State Treasury would in effect be the guarantee to the Bank of Guyana, in as much as such that what in effect would he taking place, is that the government would be borrowing from the Bank of Guyana. As such the interest rates would have to be compatible. As the government would be obliged to pay to the State Treasury certain amounts to acquire the Consolidated Fund; over a period of time, what the government would in effect be doing, is building up the reserves at the State Treasury, in as much as the Consolidated Fund can be increased. The maturity of the fund would come about at a time when the interest attains the consolidated amount of the initial amount of the fund. The positions on the Empowerment Committee could be statutory positions, because as time goes by there is likely to be a change of government, and a change of delegates to the various positions.
It is my view that Guyana should not copy strategies from other countries like The Gambia having had been exposed to stories on the BBC about communal efforts to maintain the drainage system in Bandu to prevent flooding because the city was built some one or two meters below sea level. Guyana does share such a predicament; however, efforts at a communal level with the various clean up campaigns and the use of self help methods have proven to be futile.
A requisite work force with advance forms of mechanized equipment is best suited to my mind, to get the job of cleaning up the city and townships as well as their outlying areas, and also render up the circumstance of proper maintenance. The Le Repentir Cemetery is in need of a general overhauling, where new roads as well as repairs to the drainage system, and the cutting down of trees and bushes, the bridging of drains, and the fencing of the cemetery.
That is an area that the Empowerment Committee would be able to assert its authority as much needed and urgent works that are to be carried out, would also include the clearing and desilting of the Canals along Princes Street, and Sussex Street, as well as the empoldering of the canals. Such projects and many others, where neglect and improper maintenance are the hallmarks, would certainly lend credence to the Empowerment Committee.
In terms of compensation for services for those sitting on the Empowerment Committee, and or the Sub-committee and The Review Board, such may be obtained from a grant by the UN Environmental Department, or the World Bank.
Even if such entails do require an act of parliament, I would imagine that such would be done with relative ease. The paint your “Cab Yellow – got by easy enough, even though there are a few lacking elements which seem not to have been considered, such as Freedom of Choice and the right to Freedom of Expression, since many people do choose to express themselves by way of colours. Then there is the practical consideration of the financial situation that could run the government around the corner to the bank to find about G$1 billionto spray all of the Cabs in Yellow, if the Taxi Cabs Association or whatever body they may have get really up in arms against the government on the issue.
However I do have a suggestion to make of which I earned during a conversation.
That is that if it is definite that the Taxi Cabs have to be painted to a new colour, the suggestion is that the Taxi Cabs of different areas be painted in different colours, eg. the Taxis of Berbice is painted in blue, from “West Coast Berbice to the Corentyne the Cabs are painted in different shades of blue in order to distinguish the different districts, the same would apply to Demerara and the Essequibo. As pointed out to me in the conversation, that climes are often committed in relation to the use of Cabs whether it is kidnapping and the hijacking of the Cab and its driver to the use of Cabs in robberies, whether it is by such circumstance or not.
R. G. Venton

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