Dear Editor,
As a young Guyanese with the right to vote, I am following the goings-on at the City Council. It seems to me that the Mayor is out of his depth on how to properly run this city. He consistently demonstrates this by his public nonsensical utterances.
For heaven’s sake, is there no one at the City Council or at the Ministry of Communities that can tell the Mayor he has stepped outside his jurisdiction? But even that could have been excused if he was competent and knowledgeable of the workings of the Council; he is not. Therefore, he is pushing the Council down a steep hill and it will be faced with endless litigations. Funny enough, the Mayor cannot be sued. He can say anything without fear of being taken to court.
Two weeks ago, at a public meeting, he accused the Opposition party, PPP/C, of dumping garbage in the city. He did not provide any evidence. But this seems to be a ridiculous excuse for his proudly presiding over a garbage-filled city and his inability to get it clean.
These days, everywhere you go in the city, there are piles of garbage, unkept parapets, silted street drains, and heavy traffic congestion in the main commercial areas of the city. The Mayor seems very comfortable blaming the PPP/C rather than taking responsibility for the condition of the city. It is the easiest thing to do— blame others for failures. Is it the PPP/C that is littering the seawall and all the parapets along the East Coast Public Road? Is it the PPP/C that is piling garbage in the Stabroek Market area or around Parliament Building? The increasing amount of garbage in Georgetown is alarming and the Council seems oblivious to the fact that they have a responsibility to provide clean neighbourhoods.
I am thinking about filing an action against the Council for the present disgusting condition of the city. It is a violation of my human right to a clean environment.
A few years ago, the Government boasted about a clean Georgetown. I wonder what they might be saying now. The Mayor and his merry band of councillors have diminished the returns on what was started by the APNU/AFC incumbent government.
The thing is, they seem not to care too much about that. They are busy with everything else other than improving the condition in the city. Sure, they will say the Council is strapped for cash but two months ago, the Mayor bought a new vehicle. No one can say where is the vehicle that was involved in an accident that resulted in the death of a citizen.
Prior to that, the Mayor accused estates owned by the Vieiras of fraud. But look at what the Council is doing. It is taking rates from property owners but not delivering expected services; is that fraud? Most of the civil and infrastructural works carried out in the city over the last two years were done by the central government, through taxpayers’ money. But why should the Government use monies it collected by way of taxes to do works for the Council, a statutory body that is already collecting taxes from property owners in Georgetown. Over the last year, the Council has not issued one contract to clean a canal or repair a road in any part of the city. Even the garbage collection bill is being paid by the Government. So, what does the City Council do apart from paying staff? Nothing. No services.
The Council is also charging a percentage of the sale price on properties for compliance. If the City Council is not the real estate agent, and if a property owner has already paid up his/her rates to the Council and wants to sell that property and applied to the Council for a compliance to show that his/her account is up to date at the Council then why does the Council claim a percentage of the sale price for that property? Not even the Guyana Revenue Authority charges a percentage fee for compliance.
Furthermore, there seems to be no law that says the Council can do this. But the Mayor has accused the Vieiras of fraud.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Subner
