Dear Editor,
Thursday’s Stabroek News editorial of January 15 titled ‘$1B and counting’ was exceedingly useful to help readers obtain a glimpse of the crisis we have reached in so far as governance is concerned. It is not appropriate for me to state here what I’ve done umpteen times. However the erudite editorial was written by a rather kind pen.
The essential matter is that this administration has completely ignored the bedrock of a viable democratic society, that is local democracy, the institution that allows residents, through their elected officials, to have some say in the planning and execution of works in the communities in which they live. Beyond this it allows the young and not so young an opportunity to release their creative energies as they get things done in their communities.
The capital city offers an excellent opportunity for these two laudable objectives to be realized.
The bigger question to certify the points so well made in this editorial is why has this government set about suffocating the wishes of the citizens of Georgetown to have a particular group of leaders manage the city?
It defies decency and the essence of democracy; after all, to begin with the PPP obtained only 26% of the votes in Georgetown at the last municipal (local government elections), yet from the inception those who represent the 26% disallowed the majority 74% from having any leeway to satisfy the wishes of the people, as expressed in an accepted democratic manner.
The PPP appointed IMC said the Georgetown Mayor and City Council needed more money to satisfy the needs and challenges of the city. Once the PPP lost they set out to deny the city this essential ingredient, and worse, they also denied the elected majority the opportunity to have good professional management that accepts that it is the M&CC not the state bosses to which it is accountable. Gina or the President must tell this nation why have they suffocated the Mayor and City Council and are thereby punishing citizens, and still have the gall to talk of tourism, while mis- and micro-managing a city that is filthy and unhealthy. There must be an answer, and citizens who have to live in this squalor must demand an explanation now from their government.
Yesterday with fellow councillors we visited the collapsed Stabroek Market wharf. I reminded those present that we (Mayor and City Councillors) had two money-making projects to help with the maintenance of the market. These were the landing fees earned from the speedboat service from Vreed-en-Hoop to the Stabroek Market wharf and the Stabroek Market car park just east of the market. Both were, without even a token discussion, taken away – end of story – by our ordained minority masters of misconduct.
As for the city drainage and garbage, the editorial is correct and there is no need for ‘rocket science.’ I boast that should this Mayor be given the tools, we can yet fix this city and make it the Garden City is can be – after all, in so far as the city is concerned we are the vast majority being denied by those who trumpeted about a return to democracy. Were they serious?
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
Mayor
