Any progress… on Georgetown? 

There’s this ancient Greek story to illustrate the notion of “futility”. There’s a guy named Sisyphus who pushes a huge rock up a hill – through tremendous effort and exertion – only to have the rock roll down just before he reaches the peak. And he has to start over again… and again… and again for all eternity!! Your Eyewitness is reminded about the story by the efforts of the Government to return some dignity to our capital city’s appearance. After all the initiatives by the First Lady and her husband’s Administration, do you think we’re at the cusp of a return of our “Garden City”?
First there was the complete makeover of the sea wall from the bandstand to the Pegasus by the First Lady. It took your Eyewitness’ breath away! It drew both tourists and locals to return to one of our most noted landmarks – the bandstand. Unfortunately, it’s already drawing vagrants. Then there’s the development of the old railway terminal at Lamaha and High St and the embankment all the way to Vlissengen and further to Sheriff St.
Then the Central Government’s took the bull by the horns to degut City Hall and rebuild it into all its Gothic splendour. Looks fantastic right now, doesn’t it? But how many times haven’t we thrown money down that black hole – including the private sector and foreign donors? Then the Central Fire Station at the Stabroek Market area was supposed to’ve been razed once its spanking replacement was completed on Homestretch Ave – which it was a year ago. And finally, there’s the heroic effort by the new Local Government Minister to remove all debris on the city’s parapets. So frankly, while the city may not be Garden City yet, dare we begin to hope?
But let’s face the truth, shall we? No matter what the Central Government does, the responsibility for MAINTAINING AND EXTENDING what can only be a demonstration of POSSIBILITIES lies with City Hall!! And from the M&CC’s reaction to the efforts to date, we know that once again, this effort won’t lead to a sustained makeover. Who could’ve imagined this worthy wouldn’t only not help but would actually call for the residents of the city to BOYCOTT the initiative!! As the old people would say while shaking their heads sadly, “Good na deh heah.”
Your Eyewitness recommends that the Government jump off this Sisyphean hill – here the rock won’t just roll down through gravity but will be kicked down by the perennial PNC mayoralty. The President has already floated the idea of Silica City in our interior – and that’s coming on rather nicely, thank you. So let’s make it the administrative capital and leave Georgetown to its chosen fate of disrepair and decrepitude.
Who na hear mus’ feel.

…on sugar?
Talking about Sisyphus and his rock, doesn’t the performance of the sugar industry also bring it to mind?? We were just told that sugar production once again failed to reach even its downsized revised target. How many times, Jah? How many times will those who run the industry embarrass the Government that has taken so much political risk to continue subsidising their failures?? It ain’t just the freefall in production but the inability to diversify into higher-value products. Wasn’t Albion Estate supposed to focus on plantation white sugar, co-generation, and molasses – in addition to bulk sugar?
Several Guysuco estates used to produce plantation white sugar for local consumption – including Albion and Uitvlugt. The technology isn’t new… But have we even started acquiring the equipment to introduce the “whitening” sulphur dioxide into the cane juice? But back to the production travails. Climate change has precipitated heavier rainfall patterns. Even if we don’t have annual floods, we gotta expect increased waterlogged soils.
Management better put on their thinking caps before moving ahead.

…on extradition?
Well, here we are with a conundrum. The US was forced to rendition sanctioned Mad Maduro to face justice. Is the delay by our system to hand over Sanction Man gonna invite a Delta Force team?