Dear Editor,
Politicians’ object in life should be to improve the quality of life for their constituents. On the night of Friday, December 6, there was rain and Georgetown flooded. The water remained for two days in some places and three days for areas such as Queenstown.
On Wednesday, December 10, there was heavy rain for about one-and-a-half hours and the flooding was even worse.
When are we Guyanese going to hold our politicians accountable for the squalor in which we live? They are incompetent and only play the blame game.
City Hall blames the government (no funding). The government blames City Hall. Both parties responsible for the quality of life enjoyed by the citizens. The matter is bipartisan; that means it is an issue that affects us all equally, and thus should not be used as a political football, where it becomes an excuse for not doing anything.
NCN news on December 10 played the same old blame game. Starting with “Government has intervened…” − Why wait until the city is flooded, twice so far in five days, before intervening? The public is assured, “We are prepared for the rains” − an obvious lie. As for the media, the Sunday Kaieteur of December 7 carried a ‘Blame the Government’ article titled, ‘The rains are here but no flooding.’ The front page, however, carried a picture of King Street under water, and on page 49, there were photos and a report, ‘Rains flood GPHC compound.’ What am I? Obviously a stupid, ignorant reader; the article on ‘…no flooding,’ blames us, the public, for blocking the drains. This again is nonsense; good governance by the politicians, whether in Parliament or City Hall, calls for routine maintenance of the city’s drainage system and equipment. Incompetent politicians will keep us in squalor.
Another gem on NCN on December 10’s evening news: “Government is utilizing every available pump to drain the city.” This sounds great, doesn’t it? They do not advise how many pumps are broken or not available as they have never been replaced or repaired. As an example the pump station at Kitty Seawall. Will the media give a report on this? For a change do some investigative reporting.
How long will we Guyanese keep voting these incompetents back into office? You as a citizen must do something about this, but will you? I doubt it; so it is our fault.
For the younger generation, it wasn’t like this 40 to 50 years ago. It wasn’t like this even under the interim City Council appointed by Dr Cheddi Jagan in the nineties when he appointed a bipartisan council. We have competent Guyanese. These politicians who will not work together must go. But “is na me, is he.” Something must be done before we become another Zimbabwe.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
