Dear Editor,
‘Working towards a brighter future’ is this year’s theme for New Amsterdam Town Day celebrations, set to start this month end. The theme implies that the town has a bright future at the moment (and is aiming for one that is brighter) which is indeed misleading. The most insane person would agree that New Amsterdam has anything but a bright future ahead, especially if it continues to be managed by those in its power spaces.
New Amsterdam had its glory days. I was not born then but I heard the very good stories about the town in which several mayors sat. Maybe the most run- down portion of the town lies on Republic Road. The road is gradually sinking in a trench, which has thick bushes and reptiles. The entire roadway is adorned with abandoned vehicles and scrap iron – garbage too. There were two huge dumpsites along this roadway; these had to be removed since they were overflowing onto the roadway and the stench was unbearable to passers- by.
New Amsterdam, like its city counterpart, Georgetown, has a really big garbage problem. The town, from time to time, spills over with garbage at select locations and non-designated dumpsites.
The appearance and conditions at the town’s only burial site, the Stanleytown cemetery, is a disgrace to all the deceased souls that have been laid to rest there. The town is infested from time to time with swarms of mosquitoes. There was a large infestation earlier in the year. The authorities are not capable of dealing with this problem (are they capable of dealing with any problem?).
New Amsterdam tells a really sad tale. It is a town which is stuck in the bowels of time and obscurity. Its leaders have no vision. There has been no real development for a very long time. This excludes the corporate establishments, which have come from time to time, in an effort to boost the image of the town.
Earlier in the year, a massive steel arch was erected at the entrance of the town proper. While I still question if such a project was really necessary when there were more important things to be done, the arch only deceives the eye of the visitor as he or she enters this town.
New Amsterdam could be a real tourist hub for the Berbice area. With lots of important and historic buildings, good preservation and management, the town could earn a good hand in local and regional tourism. But it is not. If I were a tourist, I would certainly leave New Amsterdam out of my list of places to visit.
Owing to the gross mismanagement and corruption, the town has suffered badly and will continue to do so, even as there are no local government elections on the horizon. A few months ago, corporate New Amsterdam approached the town council to begin a project to beautify and enhance the town’s only park, the Esplanade Recreational Park and Gardens. The council allegedly wanted to be involved in the managing of the finances for the project, after which corporate businesses pulled out and cancelled the venture. They (the businesses) had originally started the project by placing concrete benches in the park with their business logos being reflected. The park, today, is in a run-down state. Animals roam and the facilities are failing.
The town over a decade ago (the late ’90s), formed an alliance with the Midland municipality in Texas, USA. Mayor Burns adopted the city of New Amsterdam and help was forthcoming from Midland and vice versa (though I don’t know what help they could have given to Midland). This relationship with Midland died and nobody knows if it still exists today, even though the current drab state of the town clears that up.
The Burnham Park located in the outskirts of the town has been left to be torn to pieces. The field, today, is still used by a few footballers who practise and host some matches there. Bushes and other vegetation have taken over most of the park, which was named after the late President Forbes Burnham; such a gross insult. The Ferris wheel which was given to the township as a gift from the Chinese people, still stands, though full of rust and a reminder of the gross negligence of the authorities.
The Town Hall tower is in a shameful state. The mayor, at a function recently, was urged to make requests to the government and business entities for assistance to rebuild the tower which is leaning, but to date, the tower still leans and poses a risk to the hundreds who walk below it.
The annual Town Day festival has lost its taste and essence. This event is nothing but a rum- drinking, alcohol-binging fest of vulgarity and displays of questionable unethical behaviour. Most of the exhibitors and booths appear from outside of the town, which conflicts with the whole idea of showcasing what the town has. And the morning after, do you really want to know how the town looks and smells after all the bubble sessions, binge-drinking, fights, breaking of bottles and littering have ended? Take a visit to the town of New Amsterdam early on the morning of Sunday, October 3, 2010, and you’ll see.
The town of New Amsterdam is a haven for vagrants and men and women who are mentally disturbed. They are left to roam the thoroughfares, streets and businesses, and some were caught on camera by newscasts verbally abusing passers-by and even threatening them.
On February 4, 2009, I wrote a sarcastic piece ‘Oh Beautiful New Amsterdam’ in the press. Today the situation is ever more dire. The drab state of the town has increased to a new level since the ‘demolition’ of the old New Amsterdam Hospital, an edifice which gave the town a name at home and abroad. The old hospital complex in the town now sees a daily feeding frenzy for wood, concrete, zinc and materials, even while the sun shines and the townspeople go about their business.
Poor New Amsterdam. They’re trying once again to run off an event they call ‘Town Day.’ Massive plans are underway, even though most of them are falling apart. The event, the 11th or so of its kind, was launched in 2000 by a past mayor of the town.
There’s a banner depicting information about the event which greets visitors to the town. It is secured to a fence covered in bushes and overgrowth. New Amsterdam will never have a “brighter future,” not as long as those who are in power continue the town’s destruction.
Yours faithfully,
Leon Jameson Suseran