Citizens' cooperation imperative to city enhancement –City Mayor
Kaieteur News
January 15, 2007
The culture of some Guyanese, particularly those residing in the city, will have to change if the city and Government's efforts to enhance the appearance of Georgetown is to become a reality.
This is the view of City Mayor, Hamilton Green, who at a recent media briefing expressed immense disgust that some citizens are still indulging in untidy activities. According to Mayor Green, he has been privy to situations whereby council workers clean parts of the city which are garbage infested shortly after. This situation, according to the Mayor, is especially prevalent in alleyways along Regent Street .
However, Mayor Green informed that this trend will soon come to an end since with the aid of a brand new vehicle, acquired from the Local Government Ministry, City Constables will be able to effectively patrol the city in search of defaulting citizens. These defaulters, according to the Mayor, will feel the brunt of law for their illegal actions.
And as collaborative efforts between the Council and Government progress, Mayor Green believes that optimum coordination is lacking.
He posits that while works are ongoing, there has been an evident lack of supervision of the contractors undertaking various enhancement tasks. Mayor Green said, “There have been instances where contractors were instructed to move debris to specified locations about two or three yards away but instead would move to other locations about 100 yards away…This is for obvious reasons.”
The lack of supervision and proper coordination, according to the Mayor, will inevitably lead to a setback in the enhancement plans for Cricket World Cup (CWC); an achievement he has assured is obtainable. Through an invitation by Council, Mayor Green noted that several city business owners have undertaken to streamline plans to aid the enhancement efforts. The city Mayor said that he is particularly impressed with the efforts of those business owners who have established linkage through Downtown Enhancement Initiative, who together have done a monumental job.
According to the Mayor, the Downtown Initiative has been instrumental in the sprucing up of several prominent locations in the city.
The Mayor noted, too, that while major emphasis will be placed on cleaning, landscaping and rehabilitative works, the input of city entrepreneur John Fernandes of Astro Arts will help to clamp down on the presence of unsightly fete billboards.
The Mayor explained that Fernandes has already been granted permission by the City Council to paint appropriate signs and fete invitations as approved by the Council. Any other signs appearing in the confines of the city will be promptly torn down, the Mayor assured.
In light of these facts, the utmost cooperation of citizens will become imperative if the enhancement efforts are to succeed and be sustained even beyond CWC, moots the city Mayor.