Dear Editor,
I read with great surprise a media report of the UNDP US$1.5milion Waste Management Project.
According to the media report, Georgetown is included and reference was made to municipal markets. Minister Norman Whittaker stated that illegal street corner vending was a major contributory factor to our solid waste-garbage problem in the city.
First, to the best of my knowledge, there was no discussion or consultation with the duly elected Mayor and Councillors of Georgetown, and what we see is a further violation of democracy whereby UNDP has been inveigled into helping a government which is ignoring the concept of a local government system, and worse, the highest level of shared governance, the lynchpin of a modern viable democracy.
Next, with reference to the Minister’s statement about street vending being a major contributory factor to the build-up of garbage in the city, this is highly deceptive, and yet another attempt to demonize the small man. Did the Minister have a survey before making the statement?
On an all-day walk around the business areas in the city in December last year, we found that by far the greatest contributors to the garbage pile-up were certain stores which stacked their empty boxes and cartons, spoilt and damaged goods in an unacceptable manner. Others admitted that they gave their waste to persons we call ‘junkies,’ who in turn dispose of the stuff just about anywhere. Few have waste receptacles on their premises.
Why is the Minister targeting only certain sets of citizens? The government must stop this piecemeal approach to a significant, social and economic problem.
We remain disappointed that the Georgetown Mayor and City Council were consulted neither by the government nor UNDP, and we sincerely hope that the bureaucrats at UNDP are not being used to further the dubious activities of the government, as it relates to the city.
We continue to be concerned about what is termed ‘illegal street vending.’ Street vending is a phenomenon that has to be dealt with holistically, and for reasons best known to the government, they have for the last twenty years failed, refused, or been unable to deal with this matter sensibly; in the same way that they have refused to deal with the parking problem and congestion now evident in the city.
There is a report which made proposals to deal with street vending and to treat with the congestion of vehicles in the business district of Georgetown. Again, the government has refused to deal with this matter sensibly, and I give examples:
When we supported a proposal that every new developer in the city (multi-storied businesses) should provide on one of those floors, parking for staff and customers, the cabinet, then led by President Bharrat Jagdeo said that the implementation of such a proposal would be a disincentive to the business community – the rest is history. Notice double parking and congestion in the central business district of Georgetown.
When the city council proposed parking meters and the securing of sites for vending and creating separate bus terminals, the government disallowed this, hence the complaints from the Speaker of Parliament.
One government person was heard to have said that he could not take prime land in the city for vending or parking.
It appears to me that this government only pays lip service to its concern for ‘little’ people. The decent people must speak up. The UNDP and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development must engage the Mayor and Councillors and stakeholders in meaningful dialogue and stop this nonsense of blaming the solid waste situation on vending.
Finally, when the Minister consults the Town Clerk, it is a sham, since she cannot speak for the people and is a mere appendage of his ministry.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
Mayor
