Dear Editor,
The letter in the media written by Mr Hubert Roberts, titled, ‘Georgetown citizens should awake from their slumber’ (SN, February 6) is timely.
The citizens should not only awake from their slumber, but by now should be in revolt against municipal and national authorities to demonstrate their abhorrence at the present state of affairs, which is certainly unacceptable, but need not have been. He called upon the Ministers of Health, and Tourism, Industry and Commerce as well as the Environmental Protection Agency to do something.
I have pleaded for this kind of cooperation many times, pointing out that conditions within the city required not only those agencies, but all of us including the President to find a modus vivendi to save the city. It is no secret that lawlessness and indiscipline for some time has been eating away the fabric of our society.
I have written to Presidents, past and present, pointing out that after all, Georgetown is our capital and its integrity should certainly be above petty party politics, personalities and what appears to be a misreading of the essence of democracy and what is good for the nation and our youth.
The writer of the letter must encourage others to speak up and demand much more than public relations ploys that have left us in this squalor we call a city.
One example is this: when the International Development Bank finally agreed and funded the Solid Waste project, they determined that a public education awareness programme was vital.
This should have either preceded, or been put in place at the same time as the construction of the Haags Bosch landsite facility. This is over seven years ago.
When the Minister within the Ministry of Local Government announced last month that such a programme would commence in response to a query of mine, he could not say how much money was available for this public education programme.
They say fact can be stranger than fiction. Why this delay – was it deliberate? Were the funds directed to another project? Or, is this a charade which parallels that statement of a previous Minister of Local Government that he would be glad for a health crisis in Georgetown.
As before, let the public know that I stand ready and able to work with the agencies named in Mr Robert’s letter and others to save our city. Resources are available to government − the environmental fund and lottery, and I guarantee the writer and others that in a few short months, we could transform Georgetown, but more particularly, not only transform it but maintain it, if we truly cooperate.
What makes this situation painful is this, we have the human and financial resources, in addition to the goodwill and concern among our citizens.
Citizens must make their voices heard, if once again the government ignores this and other pleadings.
All good is possible.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green, JP
