Government does not need to work with City Hall
Georgetown is in a crisis and the M&CC is obviously hoping that the government can come on board to bring some relief from the present situation which has seen the capital acquire the dubious reputation of being the ‘garbage capital of the Caribbean”.
But the garbage crisis is merely symptomatic of a decay that has been in the making for nearly thirty years. The build-up of litter around Georgetown exemplifies the failure of the municipality, which likes to claim that it has been starved for funds.
Those excuses are now unconvincing and deserve little or no credibility. Strangely, despite the failings of the municipality, the government seems to be shouldering a great deal of the blame from those who are ashamed to admit that the leaders they support have failed to stem the decline of the capital city.
The government has an obligation to act but it would be a disaster if the government were to offer assistance through the existing Council. The government should assist but it should assist without any funds being processed through City Hall. That body should have nothing to do with the management or disbursement of any funds provided by government.
A few years ago, a major commercial bank decided to renovate the Promenade Gardens. The work included redoing the outer perimeter fence and improving the grounds of the gardens proper.
A dispute arose during the execution of this project because City Hall wanted to control the funds; the bank said no and held its ground. Had it not done this, it could not be certain that one of the few bright spots in Georgetown would have existed still.
The government must by now know that it makes no sense committing funds to City Hall. To hand over any funds or other resources such as garbage trucks would be to throw these resources down the drain. At present there is concern that a large number of the garbage trucks which the government had provided are sitting idle because they are in need of repairs.
This not to have happened and the government should ask that the trucks be handed back to the government so they can be used to pick up garbage. The government in fact should assume all responsibility for picking up residential garbage and should deploy its own fleet and implemented its own schedule that would see at least a once weekly service to all areas in the city.
The government also has other plans which it said it is considering. One of these is having businesses adopt certain parts of the city. This is a good idea and should be taken further by asking those businesses to also be responsible for garbage collection.
The government should also assume responsibility for cleaning the major outfalls into the Demerara River, and to dredge some of the major canals.
There was never any proper working relationship between City Hall and central government even when the government had committed to provide the sum of ten million dollars per month to aid in keeping the city clean many years ago.
It will be asking too much to ask for the parties to now work together now, even considering the garbage crisis that the city faces.
There is no political gain to be had by seeking to work with City Hall. The political parties that control the power strings at City Hall are not worried that they need to perform to be elected back to power whenever local government elections are held.
The citizens of Georgetown will re-elect the same parties that have lorded over the decline of Georgetown. There is therefore little incentive for change at City Hall and therefore the government should not be concerned that it may be foregoing any political gains by not working with City Hall.
It will be a waste of effort for the government to try to engage City Hall. The government should honour its obligation to the city by launching its own initiative to pick up garbage and clean the canals and outfall and leave City Hall to flounder a bit as it has been doing for twenty five years now.