The Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown yesterday launched the restoration fund for the complete rehabilitation of the historic City Hall building situated on the corner of Regent Street and Avenue of the Republic, in Georgetown.
At a launching event which was held on Regent Street, just outside the City Hall’s compound, stakeholders within the private sector, constituency councillors and members of the council’s administration gathered to hear of plans to have the landmark rehabilitated.
According to Georgetown Mayor, Ubraj Narine, in 2019, he along with councillors discussed the matter of the restoration of the building. Narine stated that a special committee was formed to pilot the restoration fund project and since then the committee has dedicated its energy and time to work towards saving the landmark.
“It is something that bleeds my heart to see that one of our historic buildings is falling apart,” he lamented while adding that everyone including the private sector, civil society and even the international community, can play a role in saving the city hall building. While he acknowledged that persons had negative things to say about the establishment of the fund, he assured those gathered that the administration and councillors are working together to build a better Georgetown and “bring back the glory of this city as a garden city.”
“This account is not controlled by the mayor and city council again, there’s three statutory signatories to the checking account of this restoration account and that is a member from the private sector, the national trust and the city treasurer of the mayor and city council,” the Mayor said as he assured the audience that it is not a “one man show”. On that note he added that the council has external auditors and will involve the auditor general in every step of the spending of monies to save city hall.
Making brief remarks at the launch, ambassador of the delegation of the European Union, Fernando Ponz Cantó, stated that Guyana is blessed with a diverse culture. He noted that the city hall building has the potential to be beautiful again if it is restored. The ambassador stated that the EU would have contributed just around $60 million to finance a study that was completed in 2018. Canto told the gathering that the study addresses and describes the problems, needs and possibilities of the building. He applauded the Mayor and councillors for the initiative of launching the fund.
The ambassador added that at the time of the completion of the study, the budget that was estimated by the experts, was over €3 million. He added that he was informed that the cost has gone up and now stands at around US$5 million. “I think it’s not any longer about restoring the building, it is about saving the building,” the ambassador pointed out.
During the launch, Reverend Dil Mohammed, pledged to donate $150,000 to the fund, with Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentore pledging $50,000. It was also disclosed that the company, Impressions, pledged $5 million to the fund.
