THE Government expects by the end of the year to clear $450M in taxes due to City Hall, President Bharrat Jagdeo said yesterday, as he called for a new spirit of cooperation from Georgetown citizens to help the municipality curb its enormous drainage problem.

For the year so far, the Government has released $300M to the City Council and President Jagdeo told Mayor Hamilton Green and some councillors that a further $150M will be released by the end of the year.

That would close off the amount of money the Government had budgeted for taxes to the municipality this year, he said.

Mr. Jagdeo inspected several areas in the city where the council had cleared drains and was appalled to see that these have become a waste dump for some citizens.

At the head of Regent Street and Orange Walk, some persons complained of the stench from stagnant water in a drain.

But Green soon took the President to see the root of the problem - the drain, only recently cleaned, was clogged up by a pile of disposable plastic material.

While vendors around complained that there are no bins, councillors said it is the responsibility of each stallholder in the Bourda Market to get a bin.

President Jagdeo said he was satisfied with the extensive drainage works in the city, but said citizens must stop littering if the city is to be well drained.

City Hall is spending some $60M to clear the drains, Town Clerk, Ms. Beulah Williams told the Chronicle.

She said the council has not carried out such an extensive programme in more than 10 years.

The President called for City Hall to press on with its request to the Judiciary for a special court to deal with municipal matters, and said the penalty for littering should be stiff.

A person could be fined as much as $10,000 for littering in Georgetown, but that amount is hardly imposed, Green said.

Further, he said, whenever someone pleads not guilty, the council loses out on scarce human resources since it has to send someone to represent its case in court.

"If everyone keeps his surroundings clean, we would have a better city," the Mayor said.

President Jagdeo said his Government wants to see concrete programmes by the council to spend the huge sum of money that is being paid up this year.

He called for a constant maintenance programme to keep the drains clean and asked the council to devote some of its resources to road repairs and maintenance.

Among the areas where the council is carrying out drainage works that the President checked out were East La Penitence, Lodge, McDoom and Agricola.