Crude stubbornness at City Hall

Dec 17, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
During and after our rains I visited several areas in Georgetown, listening to concerns expressed by various persons. Conditions were horrible, certainly unacceptable for the Nation’s Capital – Clogged drains, bush-trucks blocking entrances while destroying our  parapets, double-parking in the commercial areas, garbage pile-ups, but the most worrisome was the accumulation of water from the heavy rains.
Yes, we will always have a build-up of water after heavy rains, since we are below sea level, but if measures were put in place, the entire city would be drained after a few short hours. Much of what is taking place is not necessary, but due to a crude stubbornness at City Hall, this is the case.
I give just a few examples:
The stall holders were forced to flee from the Bourda Green Market facility.  Water was several inches in this area – loss of produce, loss of business, not to mention the health hazard. But excuse me; that is no big thing, since a Minister of Local Government had said he would welcome a health crisis in the City – some are so callous and myopic that they don’t realize that a health-related outbreak will recognize neither municipal nor geographic boundaries.
This situation could have been easily avoided if the Town Clerk Ms. Carol Ryan Sooba, paid some heed to the wisdom of others, and more importantly, respected the decisions of the Mayor and Councillors of Georgetown.
The Bourda Green is drained through a culvert alongside Orange Walk into the North Road Canal. We had available an excavator to desilt this canal which is silted up and therefore cannot provide relief for the Bourda Green stallholders.  The decision made, instructed the Town Clerk to secure the services of certain private truck contractors. We pleaded for them to make available their trucks to cart away the mud removed from the canals. Without trucks the excavator is idle and thousands suffer.
Right now we have a similar situation with the High Street canal. I invite one and all to see for themselves. This excavator, located west of City Hall, is idle because of some policy of an installed Town Clerk who defies and disregards decisions of the duly elected Mayor and Councillors.  She boasts that she is only accountable to the Ministers of Local Government.  This is a serious matter.
Yet Mr. Rohee has the temerity to blame Green and APNU.  The time has come for civil society to bring a class action against the Ministers of Local Government and their Town Clerk for criminal negligence.  May I add this caveat; it could not be for the lack of funds, since the same Ministers have boasted that under Ms. Sooba the financial status of City Hall has greatly improved – More of this later.
One other example to establish how much this Ministerial imposition is doing great harm to our City, and is the cause of much embarrassment and discomfort to citizens.
Talking all factors into account, including a statement by our new Director of Solid Waste, Mr. Walter Narine, to the effect that given the resources available to him, he needs help in order to maintain some acceptable level of garbage collection.  The Full Council decided to outsource two key areas in the City, Numbers 7 and 8.  After weeks, the Honourable Town Clerk has failed or refused to take any action, hence you see ugly piles of garbage in almost every block of Georgetown.
When Messrs. Rohee, Persaud and Whittaker point their fingers at Mayor Green, let them deny the above facts.
When will this PPP administration realize that only by upholding the lofty principles of decency and democracy can we advance Guyana?  This includes an efficient, competent, professionally-driven and qualified public service officer corps.  Mr. Rohee, your propaganda effort is unworthy of your high office.
Hamilton Green, J.P.,
Mayor

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Crude stubbornness at City Hall

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