Following several days of acrimonious exchanges, Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine yesterday met and several areas were agreed for immediate assistance including more staff for the city to man pumps and fuel aid.
A statement from the PM’s office reassured the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) that the Government is committed to working with it towards ensuring that the city’s drainage infrastructure is working at optimum levels at all time.
Phillips met with Narine; Deputy Mayor, Alfred Mentore; Town Clerk (ag), Candace Nelson and other technical staff from the M&CC at the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister noted that the meeting came at an important juncture as the city and the entire country are facing an above normal rainy season. He recalled that checks that were done showed that there were cases where no pump attendants were present and other pumps had no fuel.
“Unless there is unusual rainfall I am confident we have in Georgetown the infrastructure to drain the water,” the Prime Minister said while noting that once the infrastructure is properly managed then there should be no significant issues.
The PM’s release said that Narine highlighted that one of the pressing issues that the City Council is currently facing is the shortage of staff to manage the sluices and pump stations.
Currently, the workers have a seven-day per week shift. This, the Prime Minister said, should not be and it should be changed into a five-day per week shift system, the release said. To help with this, Phillips said that he will consult with the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall to forge a way forward to assist the Town Council.
“We are dealing with an emergency situation here and you need staff to ensure the pumps and sluices operate,” Phillips said.
Another issue raised was a silted sluice door, which the PM also committed to assisting with through the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).
The Mayor, according to the release, also noted that they are looking for additional assistance with fuel from the Government. Currently, the NDIA also assists the City Council with fuel to operate their pumps during the rainy season.
At the end of the meeting, the release said that Phillips reiterated his commitment to addressing the three main issues raised by Narine of staffing, the silted koker door and additional fuel assistance.
Narine’s office issued three statements on the meeting. He said that he and the PM had agreed to collaborate on the Camp Street Avenue from Middle Street to Lamaha Street. No further details were given on this project.
One of Narine’s statements said that Phillips in his engagement with the Municipality stated that the City must use whatever authority it has to force contractors and agencies to comply with the city by-laws.
Narine highlighted the work on Vlissingen Road next to the Guyana Defence Force Base, an area that has technical challenges due to the pump station being located nearby. He stated that the drains being constructed are narrower than what existed and no consultation was done with the Council.
Narine also highlighted the work being done on Camp Street in front of the Guyana Revenue Authority which has already shown signs of compromising the surrounding drains.
The Mayor stated that the Council is not anti-development but promotes collaboration to ensure all stakeholders are involved.
Following the meeting with the PM, Narine’s statement said that there will be a follow up with the Engineers and the Town Clerk to again stress the need to ensure robust monitoring. Narine however stated that this issue goes back to the Local Government Commission which has failed to act on the decision of the Council on the matter of the City Engineer. He stated that the Council has its hands tied and is unable to discipline officers for failure to perform their duties due to the imposition of the LGC.
