Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall has signaled that central government would be moving to restore the historic City Hall building.
Dharamlall told Stabroek News that while it is recognised that it is the mandate of the Mayor and City Council to get the job done, it was decided that it would be best for government to begin the restoration due to the municipality being badly mismanaged.
He said this next week would see a review of a study done and works will begin this year, provided that they can act on the work done so far.
Meanwhile, when contacted Mayor Ubraj Narine stated that while he was not informed of the ministry’s plan to undertake the restoration work, he supports anything that will benefit or develop the city.
Dharamlall also said that the importance of restoring the building is recognized by government given its heritage value.
The Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown almost a year ago launched a restoration fund for the rehabilitation of the building.
Narine had said that a special committee was formed to pilot the restoration fund project and since then the committee has dedicated its energy and time to work towards saving the landmark. “It is something that bleeds my heart to see that one of our historic buildings is falling apart,” he had lamented, while adding that everyone, including the private sector, civil society and even the international community, can play a role in saving the city hall building.
While Narine acknowledged that persons had negative things to say about the establishment of the fund, he had assured those gathered that the administration and councillors were working together to build a better Georgetown and “bring back the glory of this city as a garden city.”
“This account is not controlled by the mayor and city council again, there’s three statutory signatories to the checking account of this restoration account and that is a member from the private sector, the national trust and the city treasurer of the mayor and city council,” the Mayor said as he assured the audience that it was not a “one man show”. On that note he added that the council has external auditors and would involve the Auditor General in every step of the spending of monies to save city hall.
However, in the latter part of last year, acting Town Clerk Sherry Jerrick had said that persons were not making donations to the fund.
