Dear Editor,
I have been paying attention to the high numbers of persons on social media and mainstream media who are genuinely concerned about the widespread flooding all over Guyana. With every due respect to Guyanese in all regions I sympathize with their plight. However, because I have lived in Georgetown most of my life and more importantly, because it is our capitol city my focus is here. It is a cop out to blame the flooding on our geography and global warming. While both these phenomenon has major impact, it cannot escape more serious observers that these alone are not the whole reason. Since independence, not much has been accomplished to keep the city of Georgetown free of severe flooding. It has been pointed out to me that the many efforts to install bigger more efficient pumps and better sluices cannot be ignored. While I agree, this still does not answer the question as to why the pools of water remain on land, long after sluices are open and pumps put into action.
Georgetown is our only major city and capital of commerce, and it has been developing in a crazy way. Large buildings and heavy motorized equipment along with enormous increase of vehicular traffic all of which operate on seriously inadequate infrastructure designed for a time long passed. I regard these issues as those of incompetent city planning and management over many years of neglect. Our inefficient mud canals and gutters are not only high maintenance but are prone to severe clogging with weed and rubbish carelessly thrown into them by residents. Our streets are narrow and not properly constructed with little attention to grading and drainage. Parapets are used as parking and dumping places, construction material is left on them and eventually taken over by more weed. In short all of Georgetown is waterlogged and stinks, solid waste and garbage of every sort is everywhere. Residential areas do not escape this dilemma.
Where has the pride gone? Anything and everything are accepted as normal behaviour, you even see persons urinating everywhere in full sight of all, lift your head upwards and take in the mad tangle of electrical and other communication cables dangerously hanging from leaning, wooden lamp poles and the ugly structures built by roadside and pavement traders without any kind of oversight or regulation, and you get a fair picture of what I am talking about. Are we going to continue blaming it on money? Georgetown’s flooding and its other deficiencies can only be the product of extremely poor city planning and management which is couched in bureaucracy and corruption. Where are our civil engineers, planners and enforcers? Are we so blind to continue accepting the incompetency? Georgetown desperately needs a civic action group to get behind those responsible for managing our city. Politics no doubt will get in the way of any such group but as citizens we must stand up together simply accept the filth. Enough is Enough!
Sincerely,
Bernard Ramsay
