Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Robert Williams on Friday called on the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) to commission an audit of the economic, political, cultural, educational, social and other spheres in the city to determine the “realities,” a request which ERC Chairman Bishop Juan Edghill promised to raise with the body’s commissioners.
As the ERC continued its national outreach, this time at City Hall on Friday, a number of issues were raised by participants with the matter of ‘perceptions’ highlighted by youths.
Delving into his reasons for an audit, Williams stated that unless there is local government reform in the city, there cannot be adequate representation and management of Georgetown.
To illustrate his point he noted that the Ruimveldt area and Alexander Village “which carry over 50 000 voters do not have a single councillor on the city council.” He declared that local government reform should clearly define the role of the mayor from the role of the administration. Williams said that the existing councillors have very little power.
Meanwhile, touching on the city’s economic situation, Williams questioned why property taxes have not been raised since 1996. He stated that the revenue base of the council remains property taxes, and there has been inflation.
Declaring that George-town has more vendors than buyers and the city, does “very little other than buy and sell,” the deputy mayor said that economic activities are centred on “fashion.” He asserted that persons from areas outside of Georgetown come to work in the city leaving the city dwellers without jobs. He stated that an audit will show that there is a need to create more economic facilities outside the city.
Williams said too that he had undertaken a survey that showed that there were 170 destitutes in various parts of the capital. He alluded to the problem of teenage pregnancy and the effect of television on this. With regard to drugs, he declared that no one wants to take up this problem, and on deportees he expressed the view that “so long as they get nothing there will be that confrontation with the police.” He questioned whether the President’s Youth Choice Initiative (PYCI) was making an impact on the community. Asking which one of the PYCI projects was working he declared that (Presidential Advisor on Empowerment Odinga) Lumumba “made a mess” of these. He reiterated that the ERC should undertake an audit of the city in all the different spheres stating that “unless we tackle it objectively without any political persuasion we will fail in whatever we do.”
Edghill meantime noted that everyone was asking for local government reform and promised that the topic of an audit would be raised with the ERC’s commissioners and hopefully receive support from them. He cautioned though that it would take a lot of money and time if the audit was to be commissioned.
A woman who said that she is a teacher spoke of children coming into high school not being able to read and write. Stating that she taught at a community high school (CHS) and noting that the children attending these were those who had not performed well at the national exams, the woman questioned the use of the same curriculum at the CHS as at secondary schools. She declared that the CHS’s curriculum should focus on remedial work for the first two years. She told the ERC commissioners in attendance that some schools were “dreadfully under-resourced.”
Meanwhile, ‘perception’ was a hot topic for discussion among the mainly young gathering at City Hall. One woman, who did not state her name, said that she was disturbed as she listened to the participants since it seemed as if at every meeting the same things are rehashed over and over. She stated that at some point it is really about how things are perceived. Another participant said that perception affects children and determines their response and if the ERC was to commission a national audit she would support that. A young man, who also did not state his name rhetorically asked where perception comes from, and declared that it came from “the leaders who claim to support our people.” Yet another contributor said that perceptions are sometimes fuelled by evidence. However, it was felt by most of the contributors that perception was something utilized by politicians for their own purposes.
“Politicians have no message if you destroy perceptions,” Edghill declared, adding that politicians don’t want people to know the truth. One woman stated that the government needs to be more responsible and contended that the leaders were causing a break-down in the society.
Also making a presentation was Mayor Hamilton Green, who accused the PPP government of utilizing a “subtle racist policy” to the detriment of Afro-Guyanese and of wanting to dominate all sectors of national life. Another presenter supported Green’s positions: “Ethnic relations is not going the way it is supposed to go,” she said.
A fair number of persons were present at City Hall as the ERC outreach in Region Four continued. So far this year the commission has held meetings in Regions Two, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten. This week Regions Three and One will be visited. The commission plans to visit all the administrative regions in the country.
