In another day or two or three or so, residents of Georgetown can begin to breathe again; maybe. The city’s garbage crisis is over, temporarily. Therefore, it is to be hoped that in a few days or so, the unsightly new mini-dumps that had sprung up with the advent of the crisis will be cleared away and the stench of rotting waste that had blanketed the city will be no more – at least for a while.
As was predicted and as has happened every other time in the past, President Bharrat Jagdeo stepped in with his usual masterstroke and heroically ended the six-week crisis by offering the private garbage collectors a “substantial payment.” No one is surprised because this particular hand has been overplayed by the President; it was what everyone had expected all along. The real question is why it took so long.
We all know – the President, the government and the citizens – that City Hall does not have the funds or the wherewithal to raise the funds to pay the arrears owed to the contractors. So again, why did it take so long for President Jagdeo to come to the rescue this time, particularly as it now transpires that the money represents taxes the government owes the city anyhow? Were Georgetown residents being punished for something they did or did not do? Was it to show City Hall and everyone else who’s the boss? Was it just politics? Was it just a lack of care?
In any case, this leaping to the ‘rescue’ of Georgetown by insisting that government taxes be earmarked for paying the garbage contractors has all kinds of implications. What is going to happen, for example, if the council lacks the funds to discharge all its responsibilities at some point in the future? Since the contractors would presumably be paid, which areas then would be affected by the financial shortfall? Would it be the wages bill, for instance, or cleaning the drains?
Meanwhile, lest we forget, the garbage crisis was not the only issue plaguing Georgetown. Before the withdrawal of services by the independent contractors, there was a serious problem with the dumping of refuse at certain areas in the city. One such prominent place is at Camp and Church streets, outside the Indian Monument Gardens. Some person dumps refuse there practically on a daily basis; this has been going on for years and it has become one of the more unsightly areas in the city.
It is amazing, that after so long it has not occurred to anyone in authority to set up a stakeout – using City Constables or the regular police – to see who does it so that the person or persons could be charged and made an example of. In addition, there are still other huge problems pending in Georgetown; the clogged drains, the potholed roads, the lack of street lights, the dangerously dilapidated buildings, the street vendors, the poor facilities in the municipal markets, among others. These all need money to be fixed.
Years ago, Georgetown – old Georgetown that is – was referred to as a quaint and charming city with its tree-lined avenues, numerous canals and Dutch and British architecture. Today, new Georgetown bears scant resemblance and progress is not the real reason. The city has lost its mojo as a result of poor zoning, the rapaciousness of the nouveau riche and the problems outlined above. It will take much more than restarting the garbage collection to fix what ails this city. 2012 could very well be too late.
