Dear Editor,
I recently returned from overseas and read with disbelief and horror of the state of the City Hall, one of our most historic buildings. How and why was it allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair? I have for years administered buildings – the Boys’ Orphanage and now the Boys’ Home.
Every year these buildings are checked; if one rotten board is discovered one year and not repaired, the next year there would be about 20 rotten boards. Thus every year our buildings were checked and they are not historic sites! I cannot understand the total lack of concern for the state of our country. Georgetown once acknowledged far and wide, as the Garden City of the Caribbean is now, unfortunately and sadly, described as the Garbage City. I was shocked to see the garbage strewn, not only along most streets in the city but along Main Street.
Coming from London with its almost 20 million people and noting not a scrap of paper even on the streets (one is fined £1000 for littering) and now facing the horrific state of the city, is nauseating. I don’t know if anyone remembers (I do in my young days) that city trucks swept and also washed down the streets and the canals.
Also Le Repentir Cemetery, that present major disgrace in our country, was also kept well weeded and clean.
I know I am not the only person in the country who deplores the state of affairs and who is heartbroken to see the continuing degeneration, not only of historic buildings, but also of the city in general.
One can only hope and pray that Georgetown and its environs will, in the not-too-distant future, again rise in beauty. But, above all, our City Hall must be saved before it totally collapses. The history of our city will be poorer without it.
Yours faithfully,
Sister Mary Noel Menezes, RSM