It would seem that President Irfaan Ali has a plan for Georgetown. Or does he? During a walkabout in Kingston and Alberttown last week, and after listening to complaints from residents, the President announced impatiently, the Department of Public Information (DPI) told us, that it was “hopeless” to wait for the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to carry out its duties in those areas and therefore, the central government would step in. He decreed that councillors – from the same M&CC he had just derided by the way – would be co-opted to work with the named communities. One imagines that these would be the councillors who were elected by those communities, though neither he nor the DPI for that matter said anything about this.
Furthermore, President Ali pronounced, once the drains and alleyways were cleaned and functional, (he promised that the roads would be repaired as well) “… we’ll work out with the community itself how we can ensure maintenance.” The DPI used this direct quote from Mr Ali, possibly with the intent of showing that this umpteenth cleanup was not a one-off. No indeed, a reference to maintenance clearly meant that Kingston and Alberttown’s surroundings, expected to be spanking clean by the end of this month, would remain thus. Problem solved.
It stands to reason then, that residents of all the other wards in Georgetown – Lodge, Ruimveldt (North, South, East and West), Stabroek, Cummingsburg, Wortmanville, Werk-en-Rust, Albouystown, Lacytown, Bourda, and so on – will be eagerly awaiting their own presidential walkabouts. They all have the same issues. The clogged alleyways and disgusting drains and trenches in other parts of the city are surely not in a better state than those in Alberttown and Kingston. A cleanup in time for the coming holiday season, with long-term maintenance thrown in, would be just the ticket. Not only would the residents be thrilled, Georgetown would be hauled back from the brink of squalor and returned to the ‘Garden City’ it once was. As if.
The reality is that what President Ali has set in motion in Kingston and Alberttown is the epitome of divisiveness. It is not only completely at odds with his ‘One Guyana’ ideal, but as far away from the unity he proclaims to be its foundation, as the moon.
The M&CC, even as politically divided as it is, is meant to function as a body that runs the city. Singling out wards and engaging with councillors outside of their statutory office is interference, plain and simple. If Mr Ali is as concerned about the city’s drains and alleyways per se as he would like us to believe, then why hasn’t he mandated Minister within the Ministry of Local Government Anand Persaud to work with the M&CC to this end? As an aside, better yet, why hasn’t he either appointed a new senior minister or promoted the current junior minister? Clearly local government is an important ministry. It requires two ministers. Or is President Ali adding local government to his already full portfolio?
Unfortunately, the sad fact is that the central government would find working with the M&CC unpalatable because its head, Mayor Alfred Mentore, like his predecessor Ubraj Narine, is a member of the opposition. That being the reality, mudslinging about ineptitude and lack of fiduciary responsibility will continue be tossed at the M&CC by the government. The M&CC for its part would never bend to the dictates of the central government, and would therefore not receive the coin it desperately needs to efficiently carry out its mandate. The ditch separating these two sides is so dirty as to make the worst one in Georgetown appear to be not so bad. This one is unlikely to ever be cleaned.
In truth it would be difficult, if not impossible, to clean and maintain drains in just one or two sections of the city as a bit of research would no doubt confirm. Georgetown, as is well known, lies on Guyana’s coast which is below sea level at high tide. Its inter-connected drains, trenches and canals were purpose built, by the Dutch, according to history, to keep the city from flooding. Therefore, if the garbage (mostly the ubiquitous plastic bottles) and sludge that stagnates the drains at present are not cleared from all of the connecting drains, in time, the situation will revert to what it was. The reality is that the city in its entirety has to receive the same attention throughout. We kid ourselves if we think anything else would really suffice and if that isn’t hopeless, then what is?
This November, the wards of Kingston and Alberttown will benefit from money figuratively being poured down the drain. With the exception of the road repairs, of course, if they are done properly. No doubt, some well-connected contractors stand to earn. Perhaps a few unemployed youth will even be put to work as well. Until next time.
Georgetown has seen this farce play out for decades. The performances are beyond hackneyed. The ending is always going to be tragic for the city. Poor Georgetown.