Major populated areas around the country in a state of squalor, disrepute

Apr 01, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

As a recent pensioner, I’ve had more time to kick a few more proverbial bricks on our roads in a few of our major populated centers, and like many of us who went abroad, continue to be flummoxed at the dismal, disgraceful state of the environments of our populated areas.

In spite of the PPP administration’s repeated clichés of fostering development and improving living conditions across its litany of budget speeches, these areas- Stabroek, Georgetown, for example- are more fit for pigs than human beings.

The biggest and most easily fixed problem is the absence of public sanitary facilities. In an area of less than one square mile trafficked by as many as 150,000 persons, probably even more, beyond the few urinals and toilets at the back of a foul-smelling and congested Stabroek market, it is impossible to find public sanitary facilities to relieve our human condition. This situation is virtually the same for all the major areas I’ve visited, and is probably no different for those not visited. This is not to mention the areas around the market; vendors have virtually overtaken the streets, leaving little carriageway for vehicles. They are, however, outdone by the many taxis that bully vendors for space in front of their stalls and add to the congestion in Bourda Market.

A visit to the National Park presents another problem: even with the addition of two to four more toilets around the Park taking the total number to around twenty, excluding the few urinals, the majority- if not all- is either without adequate water, or have broken cisterns, rendering filthy and unfit for human use in a few hours. The burden of fetching water and cleaning these facilities falls on the shoulders of the Park’s cleaners. The facilities beneath the Park’s stands have been in a state of filth and disuse since forever.

This has been the condition of the Park’s sanitary facility, going on the two or more decades now that I have been using it, and I have just one recommendation: If the Park’s Commissioner knows about the condition of Park’s sanitary facilities and has done nothing about it in all these years, or doesn’t know about it, to quote Donald Trump, “You’re fired!” Why, after all these years with all the black tanks and pumps coming into the country, do we still have water problems in the National Park? Why the filthy sanitary facilities? Ask the Park’s Commissioner. This has nothing to do with the cleaners.

Personally, the majority of the Park’s sanitary facilities are so old their book value is probably zero or less, and should be immediately be replaced by modern facilities. Unquestionably, there needs to be four additional sanitary facilities around the Park, adding around forty to fifty more toilets, plus urinals to ease the distress of patrons, particularly little children whose parents are new to the Park and are always at wits’ end trying to get to the nearest toilet facility in time. Finally, there’s no question that the Park is in dire need of landscaping services, but this will probably have to be addressed by the next administration.

This is the condition that foreigners are witnessing when they come into Guyana, more so around our Capital Dumpsite, and the other major areas. Now, the PPP administration might be wondering why the blame for this situation has been handed to them. Rightly, this falls under local and municipal authorities, but the buck stops at the central government. It has always been my contention that the PPP doesn’t care, and is primarily responsible for the insufferable state of underdevelopment endured by our men, women and children. Consider the above Exhibit A. Foreigners are witnesses to their recalcitrant, belligerent incompetence.

Yours Faithfully,

Craig Sylvester

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