Dear Editor,
I have long held the view and still do hold it that, there are certain things that should never be sacrificed, at the altar of personal interests or politics. One of those things is the integrity of the natural environment. In fact, I believe, and I stand firm by it, that no effort or resources should be spared when it comes to providing a safe and healthy space for citizens to work and/ or live in. We, all of us, are entitled to a clean and healthy environment; it is a fundamental human right. This is the reason why I am commending the Central government for its initiative to clean-up the nation’s capital. It is a positive step in the right direction. It should be an encouragement to every civic-minded Guyanese to treat their physical surroundings with care and respect. I am not particularly concerned about the politics of it, but the health of the environment, the reduction of the scale of vulnerability of many local communities to various environmental and other phenomena, and the good health of citizens.
One of the challenges that compromises the health of citizens and negatively affects the image of the city is its inability to manage its waste. The garbage collection and disposal system of a city is, in reality, similar to the removal of waste from the human anatomy. The inevitable consequences of not properly treating with or removing waste from either structure are ill-health, deterioration and death. It should be pointed out, here, that in the case of the city, the consequences of not treating with or managing waste are not confined to those, who might have failed at that responsibility; they affect all – vector-borne diseases, soil, water, and air contamination, harm to animal and marine life, harm to the natural environment and the economy. Understanding the importance of a clean and healthy city, we, at the council, were led to design and activate a plan to sustainably clean up Georgetown – Georgetown Restoration Plan – in 2015. We had the support and cooperation of the business community, non-governmental organisations, stakeholders and citizens. It is not necessary for me to list the things we did; these can be found in the archives of the council and the media.
However, we quickly realised that we needed to do more to sustain the gains of that plan. We found that the challenge was not to clean the city but to keep it clean.
In his address to the City Council in June 2016 then President, David A. Granger suggested that the council ought to consider the establishment of a Nation-al Planning and Capital Commission tasked with reviewing numerous business plans and proposals that might still be relevant to urban development and the modernization of the Georgetown Municipality. Obviously, the President recognized the urgent and very necessary need for a centrally coordinated body that would pay attention to the formulation of a master plan to allow for the planned and orderly development of Georgetown. I believe that that idea still has great utility for the good governance and development of Georgetown.
Undoubtedly, this garden city has a very rich history reflected in its natural environment, diverse cultures, infrastructure and architecture. Nevertheless, after more than one hundred and seventy-five years, of Georgetown’s elevation from a town to a city, sadly, it remains stuck in a quagmire of an assortment of challenges. Many local communities, particularly, in the southern section of Georgetown remain in a cycle of poverty and vulnerable to social and environmental challenges.
After one hundred and seventy-five years, drainage of the city is still a major challenge to the authorities. Networks of canals and waterways are still not properly maintained, and some use them as refuse receptacles to dispose of their waste. The construction of roads, pavements, bridges, footpaths and allied facilities, the designing and developing of parks and open spaces for our children, youths and seniors, and the restoration of the cemeteries continue to be elusive to the authorities. In the central business district of Georgetown, the increasing number of street vendors appropriating pavements and corners signals the urgent need not only for study and research into this phenomenon but also speaks to the need for a serious and deliberate interagency approach to formulate appropriate policies and organise those in this type of business, in a way that would allow them to make a profit while adhering to the by-laws of the city.
In the end, national and city authorities must find new and appropriate methods that would not only enhance the beauty of the city but also facilitate its sustainable growth and prosperity. With trends of urbanisation and new and steady advances in technologies, which continue to have a positive knock- on effect on development in cities around the world, we could not allow Georgetown to be left behind the rest of the world without making a fundamental error to the foundation of the socio-economic architecture of our future. And if we did then history would judge us harshly. We must act now to make Georgetown comparable with great cities of the world. Not tomorrow; now!
Yours faithfully,
Royston King
