Dear Editor,
The city of Georgetown needs remodelling, and I am speaking in terms of modern town planning. The term ‘town planning’ is used to determine the arrangements of the various components or units of a town in such a way that it attains the significance of a living or dynamic organism. It also includes ways and means to be adopted for the improvement of existing towns, or for the extension of towns. It is proper to say that God made the country and Man made the towns.
Town planning is a science as well as an art; the science consists of collecting, correlating and analysing the facts about the town, while the art lies in the final finishing touches of a beautiful, convenient, economical, and efficient unit in a well-arranged town. This is my hope for a place called Georgetown.
Having said that, I want us to focus on recent developments in the city that make for the reshaping of that urban unit. The announcement by the Home Affairs Minister that the Central Fire Station would be relocated to Durban Park is of note, because here we have the availability of an open area for commercial use; that is, the former Water Street location. That area is overcrowded, for want of a better word, unsightly, and is a regular haunt for pickpockets and other unsavory elements. This commercial, crime hotspot scenario has to change, and one way to do this is in the remodelling of that entire area around Stabroek Square.
A golden opportunity now presents itself in the relocation of the fire headquarters to Durban Park. This means that the entire block can be utilised for municipal purposes. It provides city planners with the prime opportunity to remodel that entire area, starting from the defunct Cornhill Street Co-op Bank and going right on to the Stabroek Market proper; one can now envision its transformation into one big commercial hub.
It sets the stage for the construction of a municipal market hub and the removal of those vendors occupying the roadways, if I should add. It sets the tone for the building of a second floor on the present Stabroek Market. The sole aim is to bring an end to street vending around that area. It will ease the overcrowding and often dangerous traffic situation that now exists, as persons would have the ease of navigating their way around the shopping area unencumbered.
Georgetown has to be transformed into a modern city, and we must start with the remodelling of the Stabroek Area.
You would have noticed that I have touched only on the town and country planning aspects of its transformation, but the political aspect of the town needs to be addressed also. Our towns and city areas are plagued by the perennial decadence of a political turf war, and this has to stop now! For forward-thinking and for any developmental movement to take place, we must put an end to this backwardness now!
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
