Dear Editor,
I thank the Honourable Prime Minister Brig (retd) Mark Phillips for his invitation to engage with the Mayor and City Council, this afterthought should have been the first course of action before levelling accusations and attempting to worsen an already antagonistic relationship with Government if there was a sincere desire to work together.
In my response to the Honourable Prime Minister, I must express gratitude for highlighting the interventions of the Government and betraying the partisan nature of allocations. The Honourable Prime Minister admitted that the Government has spread 8.4 billion dollars across Regions Two, Three, Four, Six and 10 clearly attempting to shift the goal post from what has been done in Georgetown. I am not sure whether his late-night visit included those regions, but I am sure our current transportation logistics and infrastructure would not permit that.
I will state clearly that as an elected member of the Council I will not support any entity being given absolute responsibility to manage the city’s critical infrastructure, especially an entity that has had a history of sabotage and subterfuge. As a responsible leader, I will ensure that the citizens of my constituency and Georgetown by extension are protected by their Municipal officers to the best of my abilities.
The public relations campaign of attempting to clean up the city after starving it of resources was transparent. As a Councillor, I cannot support the disrespect of the Municipality by the Government. If we are serious about cleaning up the city then let us engage in meaningful collaboration with the city officials – this is almost common sense. Let us allow the littering bylaws to see the light and not languish on the Minister’s desk, let us sit down and engage on a national solid waste plan that involves all stakeholders and move away from dumpsites and landfills which negatively impact the environment, a contradiction to the Governments own Low Carbon Development Strategy. Any action other than meaningful engagement will be short-lived and unsustainable.
After the fanfare of the cleanup, it is the Municipality that is starved of resources by the Government that must maintain and monitor to prevent littering (yet again the littering by-laws become necessary).
Honourable Prime Minister there has been much commentary on what has been done in other areas of the country but not about what is being done in Georgetown and there lies the challenge and the true deflection. The truth of the matter is that Georgetown is perceived to be supportive of the APNU+AFC and as such must be punished and oppressed. Georgetown must be left out.
I invite the Prime Minister to engage with the residents of those areas in my constituency and in Georgetown that have not received assistance from the COVID-19 grant to hear their frustrations as the cost of living continues to rise with no interventions.
I invite the Prime Minister to engage with the citizens of my constituency and in Georgetown who did not receive any flood relief grants as other more supportive regions of the country have had to listen to their challenges in these hard economic times for the poor and vulnerable.
We cannot develop this city with threats, I do not engage in actions which are inimical to development and the record will show that this Council has pleaded with this Government and the previous to ensure that all citizens of Georgetown can live fulfilling lives. These pleas of recent have fallen on deaf ears.
Under the APNU+AFC, the significant cleanup exercises were not a one-off initiative but rather an interagency effort where all stakeholders were engaged. The Municipality benefitted from 300 million dollars in subvention in contrast to the 30 million dollars by the PPP/C after 2020. Under the APNU+AFC the city was able to breathe the fresh air of cleanliness. This Government has starved the Municipality while enabling its cohorts by stymieing the work of the Council to address zoning and bylaws to bring the city in line with international best practices. I must thank the officers of the Municipality for their continued commitment despite the punishment of the current Government.
As a member of the Council, I look forward to a meaningful interaction for the benefit of the citizens of Georgetown to be included as a part of “One Guyana”.
Yours faithfully,
Councillor Dexter Forte
