The Georgetown Mayor and City Council on Monday formed a sub-committee that will be responsible for the restoration fund for City Hall.
Mayor Ubraj Narine, who brought up the need for the sub-committee, said the setting up of the fund will involve other stakeholders from the private sector and other organisations in Guyana.
“[The] City Hall building is a historic building. And I believe that every spark, you have to spark before you get a fire. So I am sparking it here that the fire can blaze, in terms of people who need to contribute and what to contribute to the restoration of City Hall,” Narine said.
The mayor went on to say that six persons, including councillors and members of the city administration, should be a part of the committee.
APNU Councillor Oscar Clarke stated that the restoration of the City Hall building has been outstanding for many years and various approaches to the rehabilitation of the building have been discussed many times in the past.
Clarke added that reports have been done in the past on strategies that can be used to begin restoration works on the building, while recalling one that stated that they must start with the roof of the building. “All of these things are already in a report to us and we have very great details, a lot of details in how this matter is supposed to be dealt with,” he said.
Clarke suggested that the net should be cast wider to include persons in the private sector and from civil society and to also identify agencies that should be approached for assistance. Clarke also suggested that Mayor Narine be chairman of the sub-committee and also recommended that it comprise nine members so that every “party” represented on the council could participate.
The council subsequently unanimously voted on the committee. Mayor Narine accepted the suggestion to be the chairman of the committee. The other members are councillors Clarke, Niketa Edwards Alfred Mentore, Michael Leonard, Deon Young, Deputy Town Clerk Sherry Jerrick, Deputy City Engineer Kenson Boston and Treasurer John Douglas.
The mayor expressed his desire to get the committee up and running by the end of the month and to have meetings with the stakeholders as soon as possible.
