Dear Editor,
Having just returned from a brief visit overseas, where I observed the reverence placed, the importance attached to and the scrupulous maintenance effected on heritage buildings of those countries, I could only hang my head in shame upon my return to Guyana, as I gazed upon the ruinous state of the City Hall of Georgetown, an iconic landmark that was once known for its resemblance to a fairytale like castle.
Treating the prettiest building in our country in such a callous, uncaring manner could only signal one thing about the Mayor and Councillors who sit inside and pontificate all day long about inconsequential matters, that they are cultural barbarians of the worst kind in the world.
I see tourists taking photographs of this ram shackled building and I wonder where these terrible images of Guyana’s architecture are going to be posted. I wonder if those inside City Hall are not ashamed of themselves? What are they waiting for? The Government to restore it and give it back to them, the same way they waited for them to restore the Kitty Market?
Was it more important to build a presidential park than to fix City Hall? Was it more important for a large delegation to fly off to China on yet another useless overseas jaunt rather than using that money to start to repair City Hall? How is it possible that they maintain a monthly payroll of over 5 million including carpenters, masons, plumbers, electricians, tinsmiths, rodent and vector control workers, etc, and yet the roof is leaking badly, the upper flat is infested with bats and pigeons, the wiring in the building condemned and the guttering and other parts of the building constantly fall off.
What gives the City Council the moral authority to condemn other buildings in the city? By all appearances, City Hall seems on the verge of collapse, but to municipal bigwigs, the building seems to be in the pink of health.
If the folks at City Hall had the decency to have put aside a mere five million a month for the last 23 years for the maintenance of City Hall, the building would have been in a pristine state today, but they are visionless.
Sincerely,
Modi Sankar
