The Government must have a conscience

Nov 26, 2013 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

The President, his Cabinet and Government supporters probably celebrated way into the night when they read the news that the travel magazine of the National Geographic Society has recommended Guyana as one of the countries to visit in 2014. But one would hope that on reading the entire article they would have noted the comments of the magazine on the capital city.
The news could have a negative implication for Guyana based on the attitude of the leaders of the Government. It could erase any bit of conscience the Government has in that the PPP leaders could say that despite all that its critics say about the dirt, garbage and mud that have canopied Georgetown, an internationally respected travel magazine praised Guyana so why bother with the condition of Georgetown.
One has to fear this type of mentality of the PPP leaders because if one is thinking like that then Georgetown is going to become even more frightening. On the other hand, it could go in the opposite direction. The government must have a conscience to know that Georgetown is unlike any other capital in the world and may act now. I see television coverage of many secondary cities of poor Third World states and they are not a quarter as dirty as Georgetown.
PPP leaders must know that the political game with the City Council has taken on a deadly dimension – the dirty city of Georgetown is beyond description. The longer the PPP basks in its cynicism that we aren’t cleaning it because that is the City Council”s domain, the quicker the capital is going down. Perhaps the crucial person here is former President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Mr. Jagdeo sits on a number of international committees dealing with climate and the environment. He was awarded the Champion of the Earth title by the UN Environment Committee. The TIME magazine also referred to him as a hero of the earth. But look at that part of the earth where Mr. Jagdeo lives. One can seriously question if Mr. Jagdeo has a conscience.
To have those accolades bestowed on him yet know what the condition of his capital city was in and did nothing about it puts Mr. Jagdeo in a special category of cruel leaders.
The silence of the Guyanese Diaspora and the lack of opposition activism with regard to those accolades tell a tragic story of Guyana.
The UN is in New York City where hundreds of thousands of Guyanese reside. If pictures of rotting Georgetown were delivered to the UN Environment Committee maybe it would have embarrassed Mr. Jagdeo who was President at the time and probably would have stirred him to act.
Secondly, TIME magazine is headquartered in New York City too. If photographs of the mountains of garbage all over Georgetown were sent to the editors it may have had the same effect. The opposition parties have activists living and working in New York City. Why could they not have contacted the magazine to show them what Mr. Jagdeo presided over?
I seriously doubt that if a Latin American or European president was awarded those titles that Mr. Jagdeo received from the UN and TIME, and their capital city was as incredibly dirty as Georgetown is, those institutions would have received the photographs I referred to. What happened then is that Mr. Jagdeo basked in his glory. Nothing happened to shame Mr. Jagdeo so he went out of office leaving Georgetown as the dirtiest capital on Planet Earth.
Let me make it clear to my readers that when I use the words “in the entire world” when I refer to the garbage situation in Guyana, I mean it literally. What I would like my readers to do is to e-mail me at Kaieteur News and send me pictures of another capital city that is dirtier.
One must remember that when we talk about the mess in Georgetown it is not only the clogged drainage system with the garbage forming a crown at the top of the mud. I am also describing a situation where the streets and parapets are littered with tons of garbage.
Go to Regent and Albert Streets and you will see the pavement is covered with garbage. Go to Thomas Street from Lamaha to Middle Streets, especially at New Market Street and you see heaps and heaps of garbage strewn all over the parapets and on the streets themselves. Don’t see how this thing cannot send a jolt of pessimism about Guyana to every citizen in this country.
Tell me, please, which other capital city in this world looks like and is as dirty as Georgetown.

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