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Public urged to donate to Trust Fund for $200M City Hall rehabilitation
City Hall is daily deteriorating and its administrators from all indications are in a quandary about how they will get restorative measures in motion. The cost of restoring the iconic building is pegged at more than $200M.
A section of the deteriorating City Hall (Hilton Chan)
A City Hall Restorative Committee has been established. It includes members of the private sector, the Tourism Authority, the National Trust, among others which has reportedly revealed that when the design and other detailed works are taken into consideration, it would run the Council into the hefty sum which it can ill-afford at the moment.
Moreover, the Georgetown municipality has been embracing the notion of public support as the way forward.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Council said that it will be making a special appeal to citizens and other interested persons to assist in the rehabilitation of the colonial-style building.
According to City Mayor, Pandit Ubraj Narine, he is keen on rehabilitating the historic building and would soon be chairing a sub-committee dedicated to its restoration. Additionally, it was revealed that the municipality will be opening trust fund accounts at local banking institutions to allow for contributions to be made toward the building’s rehabilitation.
Mayor Narine said, “We want persons to be able to contribute towards saving City Hall if they wish to. City Hall is an important piece of Guyana’s history and there has been lots of talk about rehabilitating the structure but not much has materialised.”
“I, however, would like to be the one to see City Hall get the attention that is needed so that the structure could be returned to its once prestigious state,” he added.
Mayor Narine said that all assistance would be appreciated. It is for this reason, he said, donation boxes will also be placed at strategic secured locations [mainly at banking facilities] where people will not be inconvenienced to lend support.
He explained that persons may want to make a donation to the cause but would not want to join long bank lines to do so. This, he said, would mean that persons will be able to drop off a donation in a fast and easy manner.
Just last month, members of the diplomatic corps visited the municipality on their first city tour since the swearing in of Pandit Narine as Mayor. The objective of the tour was to give the international representatives a first-hand look at some of the historical sites around the city and facilities that are owned and managed by the City Council. The sites visited included the Municipal Abattoir, the Stabroek Market wharf, City Hall, among others.
Mayor Narine noted that during the tour, discussions were had with the international community about his commitment towards restoring City Hall. Follow up discussions, he said, are expected to take place at which time members of the diplomatic community will provide information on what assistance they could offer towards rehabilitating the structure.
The Mayor also noted that he would be interested in discussing “city to city” relationships with the international community so that Georgetown could meaningfully gain from the mistakes and advances of First World countries with prize winning cities.
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