APNU lays city’s woes at gov’t’s feet

Georgetown’s financial, solid waste, drainage, infrastructural and other woes are the product of concerted efforts by the PPP/C to discredit the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), main opposition APNU yesterday said.

This is not the first time APNU, its opposition counterpart the AFC or other stakeholders have drawn this conclusion. Nevertheless, during a press conference yesterday, the coalition reiterated that the M&CC has been unable to effectively care for the city owing to factors manufactured by the PPP/C government.

Top among them is the fact that local government elections have not been held since 1994. Ronald Bulkan, APNU MP and Shadow Local Government Minister, told reporters during the conference that the current mayor and councillors of the Georgetown municipality were elected since 1994 to serve a three-year term. Minus those who either died or migrated, the same persons continue to serve 19 years after their terms should have come to an end.

Bulkan surmised that the interest, energy and enthusiasm of the councillors may no longer be where it once was, suggesting that this might have affected their performances. But this was the end contributing factors which allocated some amount of blame, albeit indirectly, to the mayor and councilors of Georgetown.

According to the coalition’s statement read yesterday by Opposition Leader David Granger, Georgetown is enveloped by a plethora of crises – political, financial management, solid waste management, flood management and infrastructure maintenance – manufactured by the PPP/C as it seeks to have city patrons at the feet of the Georgetown M&CC.

Whether the APNU is right and government is responsible for blocking the M&CC’s progress, or wrong and the M&CC is responsible for its own shortcomings, city stakeholders have not been shy about voicing their displeasure with the deterioration of what was once the ‘Garden City’.

Ordinary citizens and city business owners alike have been unrelenting in their criticism of the mismanagement of the city, particularly the garbage situation. It should be noted though that city businesses and citizens are some of the most avid contributors to Georgetown’s garbage woes.

APNU, however, is of the opinion that the public’s displeasure is misplaced, and that people are playing into the hands of the PPP/C. Granger, reading the coalition’s statement, said, “Georgetown’s commercial, demographic and geographical expansion over the past four decades has been the major contributor to the present situation.” He continued that the M&CC has to be better equipped than it currently is to respond to the additional challenges it now faces, but said the government has consistently blocked attempts by the M&CC to generate additional funds.

The waste generated in the city costs the M&CC approximately $1 million to dispose of on a daily basis, he pointed out—a reality he blamed on the government’s tardiness in developing new solid waste management procedures, including recycling.

Another large impediment to the M&CC Bulkan posited is its inability to collect the revenue it is due from properties that have changed from residential to commercial standing, or have expanded their operations.

Indeed, many persons have sold houses and land, on which large business have been erected, although their owners continue to pay residential rates. Additionally, even more persons today are operating food, clothing and other shops from their homes, but are not paying the rates and taxes they are required to.

It is estimated that these situations constitute millions of dollars in annual losses for the M&CC. In the light of these realities a re-evaluation of the properties in Guyana is needed, but this task is in the purview of the Finance Ministry, which is yet to carry out such an exercise. Calls made to Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh to find ask if the ministry has any such plans on the cards were to no avail.

To make matters worse, where the M&CC has moved to take legal action against delinquent tax payers, Guyana’s cluttered, and sometimes ineffective court system often results in fines and outstanding rates and taxes not being paid over in a timely manner.

Bulkan said the government’s animosity towards the city council is obvious, and was demonstrated quite recently with the installation of the “least qualified” Carol Sooba to the position of Town Clerk, much to the bane of the mayor and councillors of the Georgetown municipality.

Granger said Georgetown’s solid waste, financial, and other scars are directly and indirectly the result of the actions of the PPP/C, and suggests that such scars will only mend if the government re-engages the M&CC in a responsible manner. Further, he said that all stakeholders should be included in efforts to rehabilitate the city.

Despite the opposition’s call to government yesterday, the coalition’s optimism about such a happening is likely to be slim, as it has repeatedly accused the government of lacking the political will to take sufficient steps on several matters, including improving the city.

Bulkan pointed out to the media that a motion moved in the National Assembly last year by APNU MP Volda Lawrence resulted in the passage of a resolution aimed at getting government to improve the city. The resolution is yet to be acted upon.