Dear Editor,

I’m quite certain that by now the city of Georgetown is a front runner for the dirtiest city of the world title, and this is no exaggeration.

However, it is something that no Guyanese should be proud of. For many years now the city has been neglected where cleanliness is concerned.

It is a sure fact that Georgetown which is the home of the seat of government is not the city many of us used to know. Today our capital is littered with garbage.

At almost every street corner you will find piles of garbage, the gutters are clogged and dirty and in every street you will find people sleeping on the pave or anywhere where they can rest their head. People today would walk calmly to the street corner or in front of any store or shop and dump their garbage.

It has become a norm for people to dump garbage without even being bothered about being prosecuted. As a matter of fact I believe that people are being encouraged to mess up Georgetown.

Editor, the time has come for all Guyanese to call upon the government and the people who govern this city to come up with a solution to solve this embarrassing situation in which we find ourselves.

For how long must the citizens of Georgetown and all of us who dwell here have to put up with this messy situation?

It is well known that the Mayor and City Council have no money to solve this problem and I know that the government wouldn’t give them any because they want to see the back of the Mayor.
The fact that Mr Hamilton Green is still the Mayor is not his fault, because we have not had any local government elections since 1994.

Please tell us why it is that a country that boasts of producing top scholars, brilliant academics, intelligent lawyers and doctors, great economists and smart politicians cannot put together elections for our local government. Anyway, that is another story; now back to our unkempt city.

I wish to say that the government of the day owes it to the citizens to bail out the city council, and there is a need for national dialogue to discuss the situation at City Hall. All stakeholders, including the parliamentary parties, the business community, the government, the city council and all who can make a substantial input into the dialogue should be invited. We should not waste any time with casting blame.

Let us together work for the restoration of Georgetown. We are bidding to host yet another World Cup Cricket, so are we going to host our visitors in yet another artificial environment? I don’t think so; we need a long-term solution to Georgetown’s garbage problems, not a situation where you clean up for an   occasion  and then go back to square one after the events.

We all have an obligation to our capital city.

Let us fulfil our obligation; our tax dollars must not only be spent on entertainment for the chosen few. Please clean up Georgetown today.

Yours faithfully,
Clive Fredericks