Dear Editor,
In practically every ward of Georgetown there are scores of abandoned, derelict and hazardous buildings, to which building inspectors are assigned. But what do they do about them? Nothing! But alas! The Mayor and City Council of Georgetown has experienced a sudden and striking realization the Bedford Methodist School building located at Robb and Bourda Streets, Georgetown, is a threat to life and limb.
Why does the council not go after Kitty Market, which was also identified by the Guyana Fire Service as one of the countless derelict and hazardous buildings in Georgetown, and which belongs to the city, with the same fervour as the Bedford Methodist School building? In fact they were so zealous about having the building taken down that they made no attempt to have the thousands of documents stored there removed before the demolition began, resulting in them all being soaked and destroyed during this week’s heavy rainfall.
Not only are these many derelict buildings eyesores, owing to the fact that some of them have been vandalized, but because the majority are wooden and rotten, they pose a real and present danger due to the fact that they could fall at any time and injure passersby or anyone in the vicinity. Additionally, several have attracted squatters who range from persons with mental issues, to drug addicts to bandits, who lie in wait to rob passersby. The danger of any one of these buildings going up in flames and posing a threat to nearby houses is imminent given that their unauthorized occupants would steal electricity and light fires to cook food or to use their drugs. So the question is why all the attention and fuss about the Bedford Methodist School building and not all of the rest?
Yours faithfully,
Debra Gibson
