Another Georgetown cleanup initiative
Stabroek News
December 15, 2006
The appointment of a consultant-Mr. Rufus Lewis - to coordinate the clean up of Georgetown ahead of next year's Cricket World Cup marks the latest twist in a long and frustrating saga which, up until now, has led nowhere. We have long ago accepted the reality of the Georgetown City Council's inability to complete this onerous task on its own even though it has to be said that the Council has to take much of the responsibility for the fact that the city is in its present state in the first place. The problem, pure and simple, has been one of chronic neglect.
The question as to whether the drafting of Mr. Lewis into a fresh clean up effort will make any real difference is, of course, a particularly pertinent one. Certainly, in his recent One-On-One interview with Cecil Griffith he was not exactly brimming with confidence and Mr. Griffith's incredulous reaction upon hearing the bewildering list of duties assigned to Mr. Lewis was altogether appropriate in the circumstances.
The fact that the municipality appears to be working hand in glove with the central government on this initiative may perhaps, make a difference. After all, it is the image of the country- for which the government has a major responsibility- that is at stake here and official concerns that our Garden City may shame us come Cricket World Cup may yet galvanize the two - the municipality and the government - into unprecedented action to cover our shame.
And yet it is worth raising the question as to why it took so long to take this initiative and, more pertinently, whether Mr. Lewis and his team will have enough time to get their act together. For one thing they will have to contend with Christmas and the inevitable increase in commercial activity and the solid waste generation that attends the festive season. Then there is Mash that comes hard on the heels of Christmas. That event too will pose clean up challenges. Mr. Lewis and co. clearly have their work cut out.
An interesting feature of the initiative being spearheaded by Mr. Lewis is the promised attention to the Water Street arcade - an issue which the Stabroek Business has addressed repeatedly in recent months. We believe that the shanty town appearance of the arcade is a monument to the limitations of the municipality and one certainly hopes that the facility undergoes a radical transformation not only for the sake of Cricket World Cup but also for the sake of the vendors and shoppers who utilize it.
As for the painting of buildings, the clearing of empty lots, the ordering of city bus and mini-bus parks and the creation of a sense of order in the Stabroek Market area, those are issues with all sorts of complex implications. Some of them may require legal measures while others will certainly require the kind of enforcement exercises that could put the City Police and mini-bus operators and vendors on collision courses.
While we wish Mr. Lewis and his team all the luck in the world it is abundantly clear that when the complexities of the task that he is undertaking are set against the constraint of time the consultant clearly has a proverbial mountain to climb.