GEORGETOWN COULD ONCE AGAIN BE THE GARDEN CITY

Apr 19, 2020 Consumer Concerns, News

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By Pat Dial

Guyana was known internationally for a few things – St George’s Cathedral, the highest wooden building in the world; the country which produced the rarest postage stamp in the world; Demerara rums and sugar being of unequalled quality; and Georgetown celebrated as being the Garden City of the Caribbean.
Other Caribbean countries looked with envy at Guyana’s Garden City but could never emulate it and this gave a feeling of pride in Guyanese that they had something which was unique in the world. Accordingly, when Georgetown was metamorphosed from the Garden City to the garbage city, the psyche of Guyanese people became pained. This sad transformation to the garbage city began in the 1960’s when there was widespread racio-political rioting in the City, the grant of Independence and the subsequent democratization of the Georgetown Town Council.
The pre-Independence Town Council was elected on a restricted franchise and citizens of the highest social status, education and wealth were attracted to serve on the Council. Such citizens considered it infra dignitatem for them to receive a stipend or pay for serving. It was such citizens who brought expert management, financial controls and technical modernity to the Council and created the Garden City. With the post-Independence democratization of the Town Council, councillors of largely working class backgrounds came to be elected as councilors and these did not have the high management skills, knowledge of financial controls and personal contacts in the business and professional communities who could proffer assistance. Gone were the days when there were councillors like LFS Burnham, Sir Lionel Luckhoo, the DeFreitas and Gonsalves families or R. B. Gajraj. At the same time the change was occurring in the Council, a parallel change occurred in the quality of City Council workers and Town Clerks like E. A. Adams and Elmo Mayers or City Treasurers like Ramalho were replaced by less able personnel.
Inevitably, therefore, the city began on a downward spiral of decline with the drainage collapsing, the roads broken up, garbage collection becoming sporadic, weeding of the parapets ceasing, water shortages with a non-functional sewage system, malaria and other such diseases resurging in the city, downtown streets crowded with vendors, the markets deteriorating into slums, the cemeteries becoming forests, the aesthetics of the city including its trees and canals completely neglected and the City Treasurer’s office failing to collect even a fraction of the hundreds of millions owed. The garbage city had arrived.
Until about the end of the 1950’s, the Garden City existed in all its glory. The city’s drains were regularly cleaned and the wide drainage alleys, especially in Albouystown and Charlestown, were regularly flushed out by the “fire brigade”. The city never flooded except in the rare circumstances excessive and continuous rainfall over several days, the roads were well maintained, the markets were kept clean and safe from petty thieves, and it was a pleasure to shop in them. The downtown streets and pavements were kept free of vendors and one could walk the streets without being harassed. The Le Repentir Cemetery was planted with flowers along the parapets and the trees and palms along the roads were trimmed and kept in symmetry and it was in effect a park. The City did its own garbage collection and this was done with much efficiency. The canals were kept clean and were dredged before they became clogged and the trees along the streets were well kept and the flowering ones such as the flamboyant in Camp Street provided a remarkable spectacle when in bloom.
It was a delight to walk or cycle in the City and until the end of the 1950’s most of the population did walk or cycle since there were comparatively few cars. Since the houses were all wooden and mostly below three storeys in height, there was a free flow of fresh air everywhere in the city which made it pleasantly cool. The trees in the city were scientifically as well as horticulturally planted. For instance upper Brickdam had cannon ball trees or Hadfield Street had an avenue of mora trees and Main Street had its majestic samaans. The trees all bore plaques on their trunks telling what were their botanical and common names. Householders tended to compete with each other with their front gardens which had flowers such as roses, oleanders, buttercups, sun flowers, ferns and runners such as blue bells, steponotis and coralitas. Most properties had one or two fruit trees in their backyards which provided food for birds and birds of every hue could be seen and birdsong could be heard at all times.
Georgetown could begin the process of rejuvenating itself and recapturing some of its pristine glory by creating a 5-year Plan with the inputs of citizens and professional expertise. The elements of that Plan would include collection of the hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the City; materializing the offer made by foreign donors for the rehabilitation of the unique City Hall building; working out a system of parking and traffic control; engaging a horticulturist to provide guidance on the planting of trees, type of trees and so on; have a permanent crew who would ensure that road shoulders are in place and small repairs are done to the streets before they further deteriorate; the ornamental bridges in the City such as those on the Avenue of the Republic should be repaired and strengthened; and property owners should be encouraged to plant fruit trees in their yards. The markets should be cleaned, reorganized and made safe from petty thieves and burglars so that stallholders as well as shoppers could be comfortable. The Le Repentir Cemetery should be cleaned, properly drained, its roads to be planted with flowers along the parapets and appropriate trees replanted along the roadsides and the security be strengthened at all times of the day so as to eliminate robberies. These and other programmes could be included in the 5-year Plan. Most of these programmes could be embarked upon even before the Plan is formally adumbrated. In a few years, Georgetown could again win the accolade of being the Garden City.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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