Mashing up and mashing down Khan's Chronicles By Sharief Khan Guyana Chronicle January 30, 2000 GEORGETOWN -- Several years ago when I was with the Stabroek News, we did a story on the state of this capital city under the headline `The city sinks'. We all agreed afterwards that the headline should have been `The city stinks'. And it's still the same, maybe even worse. And it could have been all so different. Last Sunday President Bharrat Jagdeo hosted the annual media brunch at a different venue because State House, the official residence of the President, is undergoing repairs. The choice of the roof garden of the Bank of Guyana was excellent - the weather was fine and the view of the city from that height was fantastic. I had been there before and knew what Georgetown looked like from that vantage point. But for many of the President's other guests, this was a first time and they were seeing the capital from an angle they had not enjoyed before. From there, Georgetown looks clean, tidy and the lush green vegetation all around gives it the aura of a well-kept tropical paradise. Admittedly, the roofs of quite a number of the major business establishments need new zinc sheets or fresh coats of paint. But the general impression from there on a Sunday is postcardish - neat streets running at almost right angles alongside smooth-flowing canals in some places, curving gently in others, all fitting nicely amid a rich variety of buildings nestling warmly together. It is hemmed in on the north by the Atlantic Ocean from where the steady cooling North East Trade winds flow and on the west by the lumbering Demerara River which feeds its trade and commercial life. A city at peace that grows on the mind viewed from above, especially in comfortable company, good food and a couple of drinks. Talk about a mirage. Such a view is nothing close to the reality that is Georgetown on the ground. The lush green vegetation is really bush and vines taking over streets and buildings and garbage takes up much of the surface of canals choked alongside streets that need repairs. Buildings are going up in many places and there have been changes in the capital but the general impression is that of a city going under with no comprehensive attempt at pulling it back. Builders waste is dumped all over, huge ugly containers are parked any which way, street vendors have with a vengeance annexed pavements and parapets as their territory, daring anyone to shift them in an anarchy of chaos and disorder. Whatever attempt there is at a routine municipal maintenance programme seems to be hardly worth the effort and does not fit in with any scheme to restore Georgetown to the Garden City status it once proudly wore. The city is looking generally wretched and something has to be done if it is to shed the veil of its promise that it wears when looked at from above, like from the roof garden of the Bank of Guyana building. Organisers are hoping to have the city come alive in the biggest ever `mashing' affair next month when hordes of visitors are expected to join thousands here for the Mashramani republic anniversary celebrations. Groups are putting together plans to trek here from several cities in North America and the government has promised a grand affair. But a successful mashing down calls for a stop to the mashing up of the city for as long as it pretends to be the capital of the country. Being stink does not become celebrations for an anniversary as auspicious as the republic and it is time for a general cleaning up and a strict maintenance programme for cleanliness. Georgetown must get back its fair face that it can wear with the same pride that it does when it gives a glimpse from on high. Earlier this month the Chronicle reported on plans for putting up a boardwalk along a section of the Georgetown seawall and endorsed the scheme as one that could do much to restore its sagging image. In the interim, however, Georgetown needs some serious cleaning-up - all around - and despite the start of a shift away to other places by some big business firms. It must have some pride in its appearance as long as it remains the capital.