The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has denied reports that it was not “willing to participate in the clean-up campaign” prior to the launch of the 13th Annual Sustainable Tourism Conference, stating that its abstention was because of short notice and instructions for the clean up of specific areas.
Public Relations Officer of the M&CC Royston King, in a press release yesterday, described statements made by Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Indranauth Haralsingh to this newspaper as “unfortunate.”
Haralsingh had told Stabroek News that marketing Guyana and in particular Georgetown is a tough job when prospective tourists ask about the garbage situation. “For me, I would not be able to tell them anything. It’s there. The evidence is there and when people look at the city – a dirty city reflects a dirty mind, it reflects on all of us…. There were a lot of good efforts to tidy up the city but I don’t think the City Council was very willing to participate in this clean up campaign,” he said.
In response, however, King explained that in preparation for the conference, a team headed by Netram of Netram and Sons was appointed by the Tourism Ministry to conduct a clean-up exercise, while the M&CC received a document prepared by Chief Town Planner of Central Housing and Planning Authority, Rawle Edinboro, indicating the requirement for short-term enhancement work at certain areas.
The City Engineer, using this document, assigned teams to the Bourda Market, the City Hall compound, the Non Aligned Monument, the National Museum, the National Library, the seawall bandstand and all avenues where they weeded, cleared parapets, cleaned drains and cleared garbage.
It was noted that the City Engineer’s Department carried out most of the activities identified in a programme of works.
It was further stated that Netram had agreed to provide trucks and loading equipment as well as to assist in cleaning up the Bourda Market area. However, the coordinator only provided these services for about two hours, according to the press release.
“It is clear, the coordinating committee that was appointed by the Ministry underperformed, but as usual, the municipality gets the blame,” King said, while adding that in the past a special events committee at Office of the President would manage such enhancement projects. He said that this practice did not happen on this occasion and there was inefficient and inadequate communication among the concerned agencies.
