City Hall criticised for poor management of pumps, sluices as sections of GTown flood

…M&CC blames staff shortage for failure to open key sluices

“Fighting to ‹possess› streets he [Mayor Alfred Mentor] will never patch or fix, next to road shoulders he will never weed and ‹want› state land and buildings that have been left to become dilapidated and haven’t been occupied for years, but can’t open the damn Kokers when the tide is low.” – Priya Manickchand

Following persistent heavy rainfall overnight on Friday into Saturday morning, several areas across Georgetown were underwater – a situation that the Government is blaming on the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
Georgetown and other coastal regions across Guyana have experienced varying levels of floods as the Hydrometeorological Service issued a “severe weather” advisory, warning citizens of flooding, especially in low-lying areas, due to the excessive rainfall.
While all the drainage structures were eventually operational throughout the coast, including Georgetown, on Saturday, some Government Ministers say the inundation in certain areas in the capital could have been avoided had City Hall been more proactive.
Local Government and Regional Development Minister Priya Manickchand, in a Facebook post, disclosed that the M&CC failed to open one of the city’s major sluices to allow the water that accumulated on land overnight to drain.
She shared a message that was sent to her from one of her staff indicating that the Cowan Street sluice in Kingston was not opened during low tide on Saturday morning.
“Cowan Street sluice was visited at 6:17AM… and was found to be closed despite the tide being low. City engineer [Colvern Venture] was contacted, who had to mobilise operators, by which time the inland water pressure on the door made opening difficult. Effort to contact the city Mayor [Alfred Mentore] was unsuccessful,” the message detailed.

M&CC’s inability
According to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, this situation highlights the inability of the Georgetown M&CC to properly manage the city’s affairs, especially at such a critical time when the city experiences 3.5 inches of rainfall overnight.
“I was shocked when we visited Cowan Street [and] the sluice was closed although the tide was very low, and that shows that there is some serious problem because they are not monitoring the situation,” Mustapha pointed out.
He noted that this is not a new situation with the ministry’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) having to step in and send operators at the various pump stations across the city to assist with the operation. Nevertheless, the Minister implored agencies to intensify monitoring efforts across the country.
“I’m calling on all responsible agencies; we must take this issue seriously. We must continue to monitor the situation of the rainfall. According to our Hydromet office, the rainfall will continue. We are monitoring it, and we are working around the clock to minimise flooding,” he noted.

Staff shortage
Efforts to contact the city engineer were futile, but in an interview with Demerara Waves Online News on Saturday, Venture cited staff shortages, including pump attendants, and clogged drains/culverts due to the dumping of solid waste as issues that compounded the floods in the city. He indicated that a request was put in for 10 additional staff members for his department, but these vacancies have not been filled.
This situation comes on the heels of the Georgetown Mayor threatening legal action in order to take back control of 22 streets in the city from the Ministry of Public Works.
The streets in question, both commercial and residential, were gazetted as public roads on March 20, 2026, by the Public Works Ministry under the Roads Act.
During an extraordinary meeting on Friday that was attended by APNU councillors, Mayor Mentore proposed a resolution to write to the Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, and the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, to resolve the issue. It was also decided during the meeting that the matter would be sent for legal advice.
However, Minister Edghill contended that he acted lawfully, responsibly and in the public interest, dismissing the Mayor’s claim that central Government has “seized” the council’s assets. Edghill reminded us that roads are public infrastructure and not private property owned by municipal bodies.

Misinterpretation
The Minister said what occurred was the reallocation of responsibility within the statutory framework, not an acquisition of property. He further dismissed claims that there was no consultation, reminding that in his previous engagements with the city council as well as by public pronouncements, the Government had appealed to the M&CC to upkeep, maintain, and manage these streets diligently and in the best interest of residents and businesses, but these pleas were ignored.
According to Edghill, central Government owes a duty to the public in such circumstances to do that which is necessary to remedy this situation, as these roads have been wholly neglected, are in disrepair, and in some cases are hazardous to public use.
The Public Works Minister argued that the Mayor’s position is a fundamental misinterpretation of the Municipal and District Councils Act, Cap. 28:01. The Act expressly defines a “council road” as any road other than a public road. This is decisive. Once a road is lawfully designated as a public road, it ceases, by operation of law, to be a council road. He said the notion proffered by Mentore that these roads remain permanently within the Council’s jurisdiction is wholly misconceived.
Edghill pointed to section 274 of the Act, upon which the Mayor relies, which clearly states that the Council’s powers are subject to other written laws, one of which would be the Roads Act, Cap. 51:01. This critical limitation subjects the municipal authority over roads to the broader national legal framework.
The Roads Act, Cap. 51:01, vests responsibility for public roads in the Minister of Public Works, including the authority to designate and manage such roads. According to the Minister, this power is not subject to or limited by the city council under any other law. Therefore, the Minister, on behalf of the central Government, has the lawful authority to take over and designate any road as a public road.

Failure
Nevertheless, in a Facebook post on Saturday, Minister Manickchand called out the Georgetown M&CC over its failure to properly manage the city’s drainage but desire for control of the roads.
“Fighting to ‘possess’ streets he will never patch or fix, next to road shoulders he will never weed and ‘wanting’ state land and buildings that have been left to become dilapidated and haven’t been occupied for years, but can’t open the damn Kokers when the tide is low,” the Local Government and Regional Development Minister declared.
Nevertheless, Government engineers were in the field all day on Saturday, monitoring the pump stations and sluices to ensure they are manned and will operate on a 24-hour basis.