Government takes control of 22 city streets

Mar 27, 2026 News

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…City Hall, WIN others call move ‘power grab’

By Rehanna Ramsay

(Kaieteur News) – In a sweeping and controversial move that has ignited political backlash and alarm at City Hall, the Government of Guyana has taken control of 22 major streets in Georgetown- a decision critics are branding as a brazen power grab with serious financial consequences for the capital city.

The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has summoned an extraordinary statutory meeting today to deal with the matter. The takeover, quietly formalised in a March 21, 2026 gazette order, strips the municipality of authority over key revenue-generating corridors, including the busy Vlissengen Road, transferring control directly to the Ministry of Public Works. The orders, numbered 15 through 37 of 2026 and signed by Minister Juan Edghill declare a wide network of streets as public roads under central government control. Among them are Regent Street, Robb Street, Camp Street, Charlotte Street, Lamaha Street and the Eastern Highway— arteries that are not only vital to transportation, but crucial to the city’s income stream. Other streets include: Cowan Street, New Market Street, Middle Street, Aubrey Barker Road, Cane View Avenue, Garnett Street, D’andrade Street, Da Silva Street, Dennis Street,  Sandy Babb Street, Albert Street, Cummings Street, Charlotte Street, America Street, East Street and Hadfield Street Public. When contacted on the issue, Minister Edghill said he was at a meeting, but promised that he would make a comment.

Unilateral decision

City Mayor Alfred Mentore has expressed concern and outright condemnation of what he described as the Government’s unilateral decision to seize twenty-two (22) roads that form part of the Georgetown City Council’s statutory portfolio. He has since written to government to reverse its decision or face legal action.  The mayor’s statement comes six days after gazetted on 20th March 2026 by the Minister of Public Works under the Roads Act a list of roads under the Ministry’s control.

Mentore called the move as “not just unlawful governance but it is the arbitrary centralisation of local assets by executive fiat/decree.”

Mentore noted that the sudden takeover without consultation undermines the constitutional principle of local self-government and treats the elected Council as irrelevant.

“The roads, which should be managed, maintained, and funded by the Council using ratepayers’ resources, were simply gazetted as “public roads” with zero prior notice, zero consultation with the elected Council, and zero engagement with the residents and businesses who depend on them daily,” he asserted.

He explained that “The Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01, explicitly defines and protects the Council’s jurisdiction over these roads. The Government has chosen to ignore the clear statutory framework that vests responsibility for council roads in the democratically elected local authority.”

The Mayor pointed to key provisions within the Municipal and District Councils Act, that defines: “council road” as any highway or other road or street to which the public has right of access in a council area other than a public road; and any reference to a council road includes the roadway, shoulders, verges, embankments, pedestrian walks, cycle tracks, bridges, culverts, canals and drains on the line of the road and connected therewith. He explained further that section 274 of the Act states unequivocally that a council shall have power, subject to the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act, the Roads Act and the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act to construct, maintain, repair, protect and carry out works for the betterment of council roads in its council area and to regulate and control traffic thereon.

“Nowhere in the Municipal and District Councils Act does the Central Government or the Minister possess the power to unilaterally reclassify council roads as public roads, transfer ownership, or remove them from the Council’s portfolio without due process, notice, or consultation. The Government’s action therefore directly contravenes the letter and spirit of the Act.” By reclassifying these 22 roads as public roads, he said the PPP/C Government has stripped the City Council of the powers expressly granted to it under Section 274 of the Municipal and District Councils Act. According to the chief citizen, the Council can no longer fulfill its legal duty to maintain and regulate traffic on these roads – a duty it has discharged for decades using local funds.

DANGEROUS PRECEDENT

According to the Mayor, the issue will not only affect Georgetown but it sets a dangerous precedent for All Local Authorities: If the Government can simply gazette away council roads without notice or consultation, no council asset – roads, vendors using those roads, council revenue, drains, markets, or other infrastructure – is safe from similar arbitrary seizure. This action signals contempt for the entire framework of local government established under Chapter 28:01.

Mayor Mentore called on the Government to immediately revoke the gazetting of these 22 roads, restore them to the Georgetown City Council’s portfolio, and engage in good-faith consultation as required by the principles of good governance and the rule of law.

“The people of Georgetown elected this Council to manage their city – not to stand idly by while central government dismantles our statutory authority,” the Mayor stated. “We will defend the Municipal and District Councils Act, we will defend our council roads, and we will defend the democratic right of Georgetown to local control over local assets.” In the interim, he revealed that the Georgetown City Council is actively exploring all available legal, administrative, and parliamentary avenues to protect the capital city’s interests and restore the roads to their rightful jurisdiction under the Act.

Attorney-at-law Brenden Glasford in an online post said the takeover by the government matters “if you advertise and would like to place billboards on road parapets. It also matters for any person or business seeking to use the parapets, such as trading permission for roadside festivals, like Mashramani or Guyana Carnival, Easter etc. For any permission would now have to be sought from the Ministry of Public Works rather than the Municipality of Georgetown. Also, the more public roads under the auspices of the Government of Guyana will proportionately increase the number of public contracts for repair and/or rehabilitation of those public roads.”

Former Georgetown Mayor, Hamilton Green called the move an abomination.    “Something beyond belief came to my attention. The Government announced that they will be taking over several streets in Georgetown while owing the City Council large sums of money. Dictatorship is a handmaiden of corruption,” Green a former prime minister said.

According to him, this is not a matter to be taken lightly. “Those who are genuinely concerned must continue to speak out and actively engage in efforts to bring about meaningful change. History has repeatedly demonstrated humanity’s tendency to ignore warning signs, often proceeding along a self-destructive path, frequently led by individuals driven by greed and the pursuit of economic and political power.”

Governance and transparency

The main opposition party, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) says it views with deep concern the government’s move. “While presented as an administrative or developmental intervention, this action raises fundamental questions about governance, transparency, and respect for the constitutional framework that underpins local government in Guyana,” the party said in a statement.

Firstly, Win says this development bears the unmistakable imprint of a gradual but deliberate centralisation of authority. “The apparent absence of meaningful consultation with the Georgetown Mayor and City Council is not merely an oversight, it is indicative of a troubling pattern where local democratic institutions are sidelined in decisions that directly affect their jurisdiction. Nothing in governance occurs in isolation; such actions are often precursors to broader shifts in control.”

The party said government’s reluctance to clearly articulate the wider development agenda surrounding this move only deepens public unease. “It compels us to ask: what is the ultimate objective, and what additional powers vested in local authorities may next be subject to unilateral takeover? This issue, though seemingly administrative in nature, strikes at the heart of Guyana’s constitutional order. Local government bodies derive their authority from the Constitution, and any erosion of their autonomy, whether subtle or overt, must be treated with the seriousness it deserves. A democracy cannot function optimally when constitutionally established institutions are weakened or bypassed,” the Win statement read.

Secondly, Win said the implications of this move extend beyond governance into the economic viability of the Georgetown Municipality. “Areas such as Vlissengen Road and its surrounding environs are not merely thoroughfares; they are critical revenue-generating spaces, particularly during national events such as Mashramani. Revenues derived from vendor permits, event-related activities, and commercial engagement along these routes form an important part of the municipality’s financial ecosystem. The Government’s takeover of these spaces will inevitably deprive the City Council of much-needed income, further constraining its already limited capacity to deliver essential services to citizens.”

“Taken together, these actions cannot be viewed in isolation. They point toward a broader reality, one where power, control, and revenue streams are systematically removed from local democratic institutions. This approach risks crippling the Georgetown Municipality, not through overt dismantling, but through incremental disempowerment. We Invest in Nationhood firmly believes that national development must be pursued through collaboration, not consolidation. The Government should work alongside local authorities, empowering them, resourcing them, and including them in the planning and execution of development initiatives. This is not only a matter of good governance but a constitutional imperative. We therefore call on the Government to immediately engage in transparent dialogue with the Georgetown Municipality, to clarify its intentions, and to recommit to a governance model that respects the autonomy, authority, and vital role of local government bodies in Guyana’s democratic framework,” the statement concluded.

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• Camp Street, City Hall, city streets, Juan Edghill, M&CC, regent street, Robb Street

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