The presence of President David Granger out and about last Sunday morning, taking a look at work being undertaken to unblock clogged drains in the city and to restore the once impressive Independence Arch in Brickdam served to send a signal of his interest in restoring a sense of physical order in the country’s capital and repairing our historic sites and monuments. The latter preoccupation is part of the clutch of professional interests of the historian-turned-President.
Two things caught this newspaper’s eye about drainage exercise. The first was that it was being conducted collaboratively by the Georgetown Municipality along with the private sector and the new political administration. The second was that the exercise was clearly targeted at forestalling the annual flooding that has continually deluged the capital for no other reason than the fact that maintaining it in a fit state has, over time, been beyond the capacity of the municipality.
One of this newspaper’s primary concerns, of course, has been the impact which the clogged drains and the attendant floods have had on trading in the city. Loss of earnings have resulted from both the destruction of stock at business places particularly on Regent Street and from the restraint on trade that results from the flooding.
Before we go any further we believe it is apposite to note and applaud – on what was literally its first full day in office – the fact that the Granger administration was been able to solicit the public support of a major private sector organization. The second point that should be made here is that there are now clear indications that the years of tug-o-war between central government and the municipality would appear to be at an end.
While this newspaper accepts that the government would need time and support to get its show on the road it should be made clear that there can be no relenting in the sense of urgency which the President appears to wish to bring to bear on his mission. In this context it is altogether appropriate to point to the tendency amongst some officialdom to make a song and dance about doing things, only to compromise on the sustainability of those same things following a brief period.
One is only too well aware of the proclivity of our public officials for what we in the media refer to as photo ops, that is, occasions that coincide with the presence at strategic sites of high officials of government. It is not conceivable to expect that President Granger will or can, for that matter, turn up to witness the de-silting of every drain and what that means is that the sustainability of the programme that he has set his administration will be dependent on the discipline and dedication of those functionaries within the administration who are responsible for execution. We must face the fact that there are functionaries in high position who customarily operate at the level of ‘bluff’ and that this practice will not disappear overnight.
What will also not go away is the reality of a Georgetown Municipality which, over a period of time, has proven itself to be incompetent in several respects. The preoccupation with cleaning drains and clearing outfalls must not be allowed to obscure the importance of holding local government elections in the shortest space of time possible.
Hopefully, one consequence of the exercise that started on Sunday would be the easing of the considerable pressure which the annual flooding has imposed on trading in the city and by extension of employing and earning. That is something that the private sector would doubtless applaud though while we are on the subject of the private sector it would be good to witness the birth of a new type of public/private sector relationship that is marked by less pandering and far more constructive engagement aimed at creating a relationship that will result in a more robust private sector and by extension a stronger economy.
