The Mayor and members of the City Council on Thursday visited several areas in the city, where they found several violations, including the obstruction of drains and illegal construction works.
Mayor Hamilton Green said the tour was conducted “to see what works were completed [as a part of the ongoing Green City campaign] and to identify the factors and conditions which are still suffocating and frustrating a total picture of what we seek to do.”
Since the election of the APNU+AFC coalition into government in May of last year, City Hall has embarked on campaign to restore Georgetown to its former “Garden City” status.
However, the tour found that persons were blocking drains by building bridges below the approved height, constructing buildings too close to each other and one restaurant was found to be operating without the required grease trap.
The management of the Water Chris Hotel, located at the corner of Quamina and Waterloo streets, complained of poor drainage and a stench that has developed as a result. According to senior supervisor Sandra Charles, the stench has been bad for business in recent days as customers have been moving out and spending time at other facilities. Charles said on several occasions, city cleaners had left large bins of garbage on the corner and that would also create a stench. She also complained to the mayor and his team about the entrance of the hotel being flooded by water that flows out of the drains during rainfall, forcing management to ask customers to use alternative entrances.
At Light Street, Alberttown, Ian Yasen complained of having no drainage for approximately 18 years. He explained that several engineers from the city went to check the area and did some work but the situation has never improved. Mayor Green acknowledged that he had visited the area with engineers on several occasions to have the issue resolved but there was no resolution.
Responding to the concerns that were raised during the tour, City Engineer Colvern Venture said contractors are currently working to clear drains to improve the flow of water in the city. He noted that the contractors had some hiccups but should be able to address the situation of non-flowing drains throughout the city.
Addressing the situation in Alberttown, Venture told reporters that the contractors would have to desilt the drains along Light Street and clean the drains in the alleyways.
When the team visited Fifth Street in Alberttown, it found that the drain that runs along the eastern side was clogged. A manhole in front of Guy Will Ship International was sealed with concrete and persons tried to break it in order to get it cleaned.
Additionally, Delicious Chinese Restaurant, located next door to the shipping company, was found to be operating without a grease trap. As a result, the grease from the restaurant obstructed the drainage system. It was also found that at some places, there were no manholes to gain access to clean the drains.
Stabroek News was told that the violations occurred because the city’s human resources are limited. Debra Lewis, acting Public Relations Officer, said the city only has four environmental officers and they only visit and make checks weekly. She was quick to add that they are currently training persons with assistance from the Ministry of Public Health.
Meanwhile, Green said the violators would be warned in the first instance and given an opportunity to put things right. “If they can’t, we close them down. That is the procedure,” he said, while noting that they have spoken to some persons who had violations and would be writing the others. “We are hoping that people would understand this is serious business,” he stressed.
He added that the visit was important as it was very revealing. “It shows us that even within the administration [there] are certain weaknesses, what officers should have discovered some time ago, we discovered today,” he said.
The Mayor was accompanied by Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green, Chief Constable Andrew Foo and several members of the council.
