Dear Editor,
With each and every passing day, the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown display how patently unethical they are, without any fear of consequences or concern for the frustration of the citizenry.
A few weeks ago, the Mayor and Councillors quite correctly ordered the building works on the seventh floor that was being constructed on a building at Robb and Camp Streets to cease.
The Mayor, Patricia Chase-Green at that time had adamantly stated that no permission would be granted for the seventh floor to be constructed, in spite of cries by the owner that a call centre investor might pull out and thousands of prospective jobs would be lost. The owner was saying that the seventh floor is required by the investors for a lunch and recreation area for three shifts of 2500 persons each.
The Mayor advised that it was her understanding from the City Engineer and what she had gleaned from correspondence she received from him, that no approval was granted for the seventh floor; rather that approval was granted for just six floors.
Chase-Green had indicated her displeasure that the owner had gone ahead and begun constructing the seventh floor without permission from either the Council or the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) which had also turned down the owner’s request to build the extra floor.
The City Mayor made it pellucid that approval was given for six floors and there would be no more additional floors to the structure.
The owner who is determined to be allowed to build the seventh floor publicly stated his intentions to go over the heads of the Council and CH&PA by formally appealing to the President of Guyana to be granted approval for the seventh floor to be constructed. The design he said was for the ground floor to be used for a mini-mall, the first floor for a fast food restaurant and the remaining floors for the call centre.
And then just like that, strangely enough, without any reason or rationale the Mayor changed her tune and started saying that she had observed that a 10-storey building can be found on the same Camp Street, opposite the Georgetown Club, and hence there should be no discrimination in the process and asked “How do we say no to seven and yes to 10?”
In a remarkable and unbelievable pivot, she is also now saying this is not the time for the M&CC to be holding up development in the City and the creation of employment, and that it was her understanding, that the Ministry of Housing was talking about the skyline limit, which to her knowledge, is 150 feet, and that the building at Robb and Camp only reached 98 feet.
Thankfully, the building of the seventh floor continues to be blocked through a High Court injunction obtained by the CH&PA, where sanity still prevails and with whom the ultimate responsibility lies for the use of a building.
Who or what would have caused the City Council to change its mind? The City Hall just reeks of corruption.
Sincerely,
Deodarie Putulal
