The big project in Guyana is not about hydroelectricity, or an international hotel or the construction of a stadium or any four-lane highway. The big project in Guyana at the moment is the project to restore Georgetown.

The project is going fine. Georgetown is looking fine. It will take about ten more cleanings before it can return to anywhere near what it used to be under the British, but it is getting there.

Whoever is responsible for the work in Georgetown must be commended. It is not clear whether the works are being directed by the City Council or Central Government. There is a need for this information to be made public.
People are pleased by the transformation they are witnessing. This is not just cleaning that is taking place. It is landscaping and design that is taking place and there has been some impressive work involved.

The public however should be told just who is responsible, what has been the price tag, and what has been the contribution of Central Government, City Hall and the private sector respectively.
It should also be publicized how the various contracts for cleaning and clearing were awarded. Were these publicly advertised or were they simply given out to known individuals.

No one can fault the quality of the work that is taking place, but there are standards with respect to how contracts are supposed to be awarded where public funds are involved, and therefore there is a responsibility for the public to be told just how those who were awarded contracts were able to do so.
These works are expected to continue way into the New Year, since next year Guyana will be observing fifty years of Independence and the clean-up exercise taking place is in preparation for this.

Many persons are concerned about the sustainability of the exercise being undertaken; whether it will be sustained beyond 2016.  This would depend on the sources of the funding.
City Hall has always complained in the past that the PPP had starved it of funds. Well if the revenue base of City Hall is insufficient to carry out cleaning works, it would mean that government will have to inject considerable revenues into the city just to keep it clean. Or it may have to increase rates and taxes which have not been increased for more than ten years.
This is all the more reason why there needs to immediately be a public disclosure about the source of funding for the present works. It has to be considerable and the monies have to be coming from somewhere. The $300M voted by Central Government cannot, given the scale of the work taking place, go very far.
When the new government took office, it tried to encourage volunteers to clean up the city. The response was disappointing. In the end what most people know was proved: that it will take the issuing of cleaning contracts for the city to be restored. The question is to what extent is the private sector involved, and if so, who are companies that have contributed.

There needs to be a system of transparency about the funds that have been spent so far, and who have contributed as well as who have been awarded contracts. This is very important for Guyanese to be on the guard to ensure that any entity that may have given a donation is not looking for something in return.
Transparency was promised by the new government and it should deliver on this promise