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City Hall to challenge Govt’s ‘hostile takeover’ of city assets in court – lawyer
(Kaieteur News) – Attorney Dexter Todd has said that the Mayor and City Council is ready to challenge the Government’s hostile takeover council’s assets in the Georgetown municipality. Todd told this newspaper that his office is making the final preparations of the documents for court.
“There was considerable research and data collection that went into this filing…We had to consult with agencies like the lands and surveys and collect the necessary data for a court challenge …”
Attorney for Council, Dexter Todd
According to the lawyer, the next step is for the town clerk to sign off on the documents before they are filed in the court. “We want to ensure that when these matters reach the court, we are fully capable of defending our case.” Todd added.
The lawyer spoke to Kaieteur News hours after Attorney General, Anil Nandlall SC declared that the government will continue to take over empty spaces within the Georgetown municipality.
Speaking during his weekly “Issues in the News” programme on Tuesday night, Nandlall Government will also be moving to take over empty spaces in the city. This is in addition to the more than 50 city streets that were already taken over by the government. The Attorney General said that the takeover by government is due to the council’s shrieking its responsibility to the city.
“The Georgetown Mayor and City Council has for decades demonstrated their incompetence to discharge their statutory functions… they do a lot is to rent out the pavements, give people permission structures to build on these pavements, encourage lawlessness of the city to the detriment of Guyana and to the citizens. The government’s intention is simply to act in the public’s interest and address what is a national disaster and we are going to do it in stages, we will move from the roads and we will take over the empty spaces as well, the state has that power in law,” Nandlall declared.
Last week, the Government has doubled down on its reclassification of city streets into public roads by gazetting another 35 to add to the 22 it took control of earlier this month.
Government had quietly formalised in a March 21, 2026 gazette order 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.
City Mayor, Alfred Mentore
The Georgetown Mayor and City Council had condemned the government takeover as bullyism aimed at starving the municipality of much needed funds. In a statement City Mayor, Alfred Mentore said: “It represents a calculated act of political intimidation and overreach, designed to destabilize the Municipality and silence the voices of the people of Georgetown.”
Mentore had 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.”
“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.”
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 fund”
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Here the Government is trying to make the streets acomodative to the citizens. We should all associate in a meaninful way to make our homes accessible .
We have to ensure that our roadways are not congested by parked vehicles, vendors stands and huts as these cause transportation difficulties and may cause accidents.
By widening the roads there will be beautification and less time driving around the city.