No wonder we in this shhh........
So an international travel writer who has been all around the world came on a visit to Georgetown Guyana and was unimpressed and listed the country as one of the worst places he has ever visited. I see many folks are being self righteous and rather than deal with the message they decide to attack the messenger.
First of all, the man is talking about his experience and is comparing it to his other experiences around the world, so he must know what he is talking about.
But let's be real, to any first time visitor, there is very little that Georgetown has to offer anyone. The city is full of garbage, historical buildings are falling apart, national monuments are being defaced, power outages have become a regular occurrence and in the land of many waters, not much comes through your tap. And no one even bothers to consume what actually comes through the tap when it comes.
Georgetown is the Capital but it is not treated that way. Many streets are unlit. Believe it or not, you can actually count the number of power poles with working lamps on Regent Street on your two hands. Parapets are hardly maintained. In the main business areas and main shopping areas, the presence of garbage rivals the number of shoppers. Customer service in many stores and restaurants stink, public transportation operators live in a world by themselves where having profanity laced conversations and playing profanity laced songs represent just another day at the park.
There is not much local cuisine being offered by many of the restaurants, try finding a seafood spot and they'll direct you to one of the many fish shops that offer you nothing more than fish and plantain fries. Nightspots offer very little entertainment and you'll have to wait until the weekend unless of course, Sita's Bar is your pick.
And let's not even get started with the robberies and violent crimes that occur every single day. According to the Police, over 600 armed robberies for the year. At least someone still counting.
Let's face it. We do not and have not been taking care of our city. It has been allowed to rot and fall apart. Don't even bother to tell me about taking a trip to the interior because unless you are a nature lover, I do not know of many tourists who would abandon the city to go in the bush. The city is where most people like to be.
The man's short article should serve as a wake up call for us all to do better and to demand change. But many of us have sadly, been living so long and so comfortable in the S%it, we don't even realise it still stinks.
