At a press conference held on Friday in the boardroom of City Hall, City Engineer, Colvern Venture expressed his dissatisfaction with the accomplishments of his department for the year 2021.
Venture answered a series of question relating to his department. And according to the engineer, the major reason for the incompletion of many of the department’s tasks is the late or non submission of requisite materials for the specific areas of engineering that were called for.
He noted that many requests were made to the financial department about materials that were needed by the City Engineer’s Department but they all fell on deaf ears.
The three sectors that posed the most challenges to the department included the drainage sector, road maintenance sector, and the building construction sector.
In 2021 it was proposed and approved by the council for the City Engineer’s Department to maintain an approximate area of 645 miles of drains within the city, however, only 35% of that proposal was completed due to difficulties faced by the council.
Currently, there are 11 persons employed within the drainage sector along with one tractor and trailer, Venture noted adding that such assets are insufficient in order to cover the 15.2 square miles of Georgetown.
Venture also stated that over the years the council has auctioned off or sold vehicles with the intention of purchasing more but none of those vehicles was ever replaced.
Regarding the road maintenance sector, in early 2021 the department had proposed to maintain 70% of the city’s roads but nothing was achieved. He noted that although they had asked for the requisite materials such as tar and stones, nothing was provided by the council’s finance department. Further, only 7 persons are employed in this area, again, an insufficient amount of employees to cover the city.
According to the City Engineer, one of the biggest challenges his department was faced with were the many accusations and ridiculous complaints by the Mayor and City Council regarding the demolition of many structures that were constructed on the parapets of the city. The engineer made reference to a recent issue where he was instructed by the Mayor Ubraj Narine to demolish a barbecue hut in a specific area. He however noted that a petition was signed by the mayor himself and other members of the council for him to desist from the demolition of any structure, “so I am confused as to why the mayor would send a letter to me instructing me to demolish the BBQ hut when a decision just like what was voted against me from demolishing structures (and) must be made by the council and not the mayor alone for me to demolish this BBQ hut. I cannot put my staff at risk to demolish a building that was not voted by the council to be removed then I would be ridiculed again for it,” opined Venture at the press conference.
When asked what he would like to see done and improved for the new year, Venture responded, “Going forward in 2022, there are couple things I would like to see, one, being a better working relationship between the council and my administration, two, better planning or decision making\policies\guidelines that would be put in place that will not just look at certain aspects but a holiness that will allow stic look to improve the city and the improvement in terms of the services that my department delivers.”
