‘From stigma to showcase’ - President announces radical reset for Tiger Bay

‘From stigma to showcase’ – President announces radical reset for Tiger Bay

Nov 17, 2025 News

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali on Sunday announced that Tiger Bay will become the first pilot “modern neighbourhood” in Georgetown under the newly launched Neighbourhood Love Programme, an initiative within the broader Rescue Georgetown Programme.

Tiger Bay residents with Minister of Local Government Priya Manickchand during the walk about

The announcement was made during the president’s walkabout in the Kingston and Tiger Bay communities, where he engaged residents on the government’s plans for urban renewal and community upliftment.

President Ali explained that the project will focus on renovating buildings, supporting businesses to create jobs, and improving safety in the community as part of efforts to remove long-standing stigma attached to the area.

“We are making it the model neighbourhood because we have every type of problem and every type of solution within this neighbourhood,” he said. “Coming from Kingston all the way, you have the prime minister’s residence, you have the people’s residence, you have all the big businesses, you have the business. And then we have the greatest of social issues in the same community. And that is what we have to fix as a community. So, this is a model that we are developing for the rest of Georgetown and the rest of the urban and suburban areas across the country.”

According to the president, a key priority is to ensure the area’s transformation supports tourism and public safety.

“We want this community to be a safe community,” he stated. “Part of the conservation programme is to make this route from the seawall… going to Avenue of the Republic, down to South Road, back into the Botanical Gardens, the walking cultural and walking tourism lanes of Guyana. The most important thing is that people must know they’re secure, they’re safe. And we have to be honest—we have to remove a big stigma from the area. And we are going to remove it as a neighbourhood.”

President Ali also announced plans to launch additional programmes focused on children, women, and families to strengthen community safety and sustainability. He revealed that government will allocate three plots of land in the area for the construction of futsal and basketball facilities equipped with night lights in Tiger Bay area. Kingston Secondary School is also part of the redevelopment initiative.

Ministers, councillors, and private sector members joined the president during the walkabout, including Minister of Labour and Manpower Keoma Griffith and Minister of Local Government Priya Manickchand. Members of the Men on Mission (MOM) group were also present.

Highlighting the approach of the programme, the president noted, “This is important because you can have one of the nicest parts of the neighbourhood lose value because another part of the neighbourhood is not upkept. So, we want the entire neighbourhood to work together to help us lift the entire neighbourhood together.”

The Tiger Bay upgrade forms part of the wider Georgetown City Revival Plan, unveiled by the president in September. The plan focuses on revitalising the capital through targeted investments in infrastructure, drainage, roadworks, sanitation, and urban beautification, aligned with the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030. Key priorities include housing expansion, improved waste management, flood resilience, heritage preservation, and the development of a modern transport system to ease congestion.

In October, the president disclosed that a comprehensive mapping and condition survey of every drain in Georgetown is already underway, forming the technical foundation for long-term urban improvements.

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Keoma Griffith, Minister of Local Government, modern neighbourhood, Rescue Georgetown, The announcement, Tiger Bay communities

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