Restoring Georgetown – All must be involved!

Mar 17, 2013 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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(Extracts from a speech to the National Assembly on the Motion by Cathy Hughes M.P)
“It is my pleasure today to rise to support this important and timely motion “The restoration of Georgetown” on behalf of the Alliance For Change.

I recognize that each of us honourable members sitting in this house, bring our individual, community and often political positions on a range of issues. Nonetheless, I am optimistic that when one closely examines the motion “The Restoration of Georgetown” to its once pristine glory, is a task that we should all be committed to finding real solutions to and consensus on,
After all Georgetown is our Capital City, the seat of our Government, home to our parliament, historic law court, cathedrals, churches, temples and mosques and home to more than 20% of our population. We therefore have the responsibility to protect and preserve this great city that was handed to us and to ensure that we leave it intact to successive generations of Guyanese.
I am confident that none us would want to go down in history as ignoring, destroying, or failing to bring back from the precipice of destruction our city….Georgetown. This, therefore, is not a political issue but one that each and every Guyanese can and MUST rally around with a united commitment to taking responsible for the role each of us plays in this unfolding tragedy.
Several organisations over the last ten years have attempted to clean up and find solutions to the smothering of the city under mounting piles of garbage. In each attempt the results have been limited and unsustainable. I feel that with this motion this parliament has a unique opportunity to declare to all Guyana that this unfolding disaster has got to stop and we have a responsibility to restore our city now. This must be done for our continued good health, and most importantly for our personal pride as Guyanese.
I hold my head in shame when visitors to our country seek explanations as to why the city is so filthy. For the dirt and filth is a reflection of each of us…Our children, teenagers, adults and pensioners, each of us that contributes to this mammoth problem.
I recognize that the entity to deal with most of these challenges is the City Council.  I also recognize that the city has an expanding population that brings strain to an aging infrastructure and dwindling revenues, vis-à-vis rising costs and lower tax collection revenues, all of which pose real and present dangers.
Now is the time to implement the numerous suggestions put forward to increase the revenue base of the City Council. Parking meters, a municipal lottery, revenue to be gained by the erection of acceptable billboards on sites, are some of the many suggestions. Not to mention the revenues from the lotto fund and the $1.8 billion collected so far as an environmental tax that can be used for restoration of our city.
I am well aware that criticism will be laid against the City Council, others against the government with claims that they do not pay their taxes on time. Many would even suggest that honourable Ministers speaking on this motion have no moral authority to bellyache about the ills of the City Council and the mismanagement of the municipality when the government has failed to hold local government elections in 19 years!
We in the AFC are critical of the way the City Council operates, and we are aware of mismanagement and the inefficiencies, as well as the corruption, but the government cannot remove itself from blame.  The cure is local government elections, which the PPP government refuses to hold.
Government Member of Parliament the honourable Mr. Hamilton said that the problem is not garbage but solid waste.  He forgets that the government benefited from a $20 million US solid waste project and up to this day has shelved a draft solid waste management law and has refused to set up a solid waste management authority with powers to prosecute. The government has also failed to introduce regulation for the proper disposal of toxic medical and hazardous waste and has placed citizens safety in jeopardy as we saw recently in Red Village. So let’s stop the scapegoating!
We in the AFC are not going to waste time debating where to lay blame.  For a wise woman…Hillary Clinton in fact once said “ Every wasted moment looking back, prevents us from moving forward! “. The current blame game leaves us all paralyzed, living in filth and fearing an outbreak of something anytime.
This is a “To Do “motion and we in the AFC would like to suggest that we reconsider the sub dividing of the city into wards as was done before.  Let us also commit to examining new ways our municipalities can be managed in the future.
We would like to further suggest that an architectural landscape of Guyana be commissioned by our architects and engineers so we can create a vision of our city in the next 50 years, with careful consideration for spaces we should be allocating for parking and recreational activities.
Let’s put on the table the hundreds of plans and proposals gathering dust in offices across Georgetown that highlight innovative plans for the development of the Seawall and other prime locations.
Now to the greater tourism potential that is possible if our city is restored. A review of the UNESCO’s world heritage website reminds us that as far back as 1995, and later in 2005, locations in Guyana have been placed tentatively on a list for possible acceptance as World Heritage Sites. UNESCO’s world heritage site listing grants worldwide recognition to locations and historical monuments deemed to be of outstanding universal value.
Today there are 962 such locations across the world.  In the Caribbean, world heritage sites include- the Barrier Reef reserve in Belize, the Piton’s management area in St. Lucia and in Suriname, the central Suriname National Reserve and the historic Inner City of Paramaribo.
We are fortunate that in Guyana we have 5 strong possibilities for world heritage site listing and three of the five possibilities are located in Georgetown. These are City Hall Georgetown, Fort Zeelandia including the Port of Policy in the Essequibo, what is called “Plantation Georgetown” structures and historic buildings, Shell Beach on the Essequibo coast and finally St. George’s Cathedral.
The possibilities for increased tourism revenues and most importantly the success stories of listed locations being restored with the invaluable assistance from UNESCO are many. The process of restoring Georgetown will assist in moving Guyana’s sites from a tentative to a recognised listing.
I have expressed on many occasions my willingness to work with the Tourism Minister on the development of the tourism sector. This spirit of cooperation and working towards making our city better for all Guyanese, I am convinced, is one area we can find consensus on.
With continuing education and awareness, the implementation of sorting and recycling at the home of citizens, and the implementation of solutions to the myriad issues we are discussing today, we can restore the city of Georgetown. With public and private sector, the city council, government and Guyanese citizens of all ages on board we will succeed. Thank you!

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