Dear Editor,
With reference to the Daily Chronicle editorial of Wednesday, May 14, 2008 headlined ‘We must work towards preserving our Garden City,’ I believe every good Guyanese at home and abroad, every patriot and most importantly, those who live and dwell in Georgetown need to support these sentiments.
The editorial could only be the result of one of the following:
1. The writer is unaware of the history of Georgetown and efforts over the last decade and a half to preserve our city or,
2. the person set out deliberately to write something defective or,
3. to be part of a well orchestrated scheme to shower praises on certain government ministers no matter what.
One can debunk the editorial by dealing with the truth and the whole truth of matters concerning the city. Since the late ’80s and ’90s, it was recognized that our capital city needed rehabilitation. A sine qua non was a plan, a well formulated plan. We must here give credit to the PPP administration. A town planner was commissioned to look at the many previous plans and mistakes that resulted in a city begging for help to become a place of charm and good order.
The consultant worked with all stakeholders and looked at the works done by Mr Layne (Laing Avenue), Mr Aubrey Barker – the British government, etc. After many months of examining all previous plans, a plan was produced.
After amendments, the plan was accepted as a sensible way forward. The Mayor and Councillors were ready to take action within the city. The plan was further changed and accepted by the Guyana government in 2003. Why the proposal related to the decongestion of traffic in the city was not put in place is a question for the government of the day to answer. Certain areas were identified for the mobilization of public transportation and the parking of vehicles. A well thought-out plan was agreed to by state operatives and instead we have a Rambo type approach to dealing with a serious matter, and we must ask why the areas proposed have not been acquired for public transportation.
I will say no more at this stage.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green, JP, Mayor
