PNC/APNU-led Georgetown Mayor & City Council continues to hold citizens hostage

It is time for a new beginning for Georgetown. It is time we rescue Georgetown. President Irfaan Ali and the PPP/C Government have been trying to help clean up the city since 2020. After the September 1, 2025, election and his re-election as President, HE Irfaan Ali announced a rescue plan and the vision of developing Georgetown to regain its reputation as the “garden city” of the Caribbean and to develop the city to be an iconic city within CARICOM.
Rescuing and transforming Georgetown should not be political; it should be what we all want.
Whether it was the clean-up campaign that started in 2020 with the President himself providing leadership or the more recent efforts to transform Georgetown, the PNC/APNU-led Mayor and City Council have been openly obstructive. At no time were they supportive of the President’s clean-up campaigns. At no time since the President’s announcement of plans to transform the city has the Mayor openly provided support. The same applies to the PNC/APNU councillors. Whether it is the transformation of the Kingston seawall area, the Main Street transformation, the work to transform the Tiger Bay area or the work to transform the Stabroek Market area, the Mayor and City Council have been obstructive.
Georgetown, the once “garden city”, is today widely regarded by citizens who reside in Georgetown or those from outside as the “garbage city”, the dirtiest city in CARICOM. Every time the Central Government tries to clean up the city, the Mayor and City Council stand in their way. On Sunday, the Minister of Local Government, Minister Priya Manikchand, convened a meeting with the Mayor and his staff to discuss the ugly sanitation situation in the city. The Minister convened a second meeting for Monday, giving the Mayor and his staff time to come up with plans to deal with the garbage pile-up and sanitation situation. The Mayor agreed they will return with ideas. On Monday, the Minister and her staff showed up for the meeting. The Mayor boycotted the meeting, along with all the PNC/APNU councillors.
Holding Georgetown and the citizens hostage is unconscionable. The time has come for Georgetown and Guyana to make it clear to the PNC/APNU-led Mayor and City Council that enough is enough.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Georgetown was regarded as the Caribbean’s “Garden City”. This was before Forbes Burnham became the Mayor of Georgetown in 1959. He continued as Mayor until 1964 and, officially, was Mayor of Georgetown between 1964 and 1966 but had also become the Prime Minister after the then Governor of Guyana did not invite the winner of the 1964 General Elections to form a Government. Since independence, Burnham’s party, the PNC, in one form or another, has been in charge of Georgetown. Counting the years since independence, it means Georgetown has been under the PNC for 60 years. If we count the years since Forbes Burnham first became Mayor, it has been 66 years that Georgetown has been under the PNC.
In the span of the last 64 years, beautiful Georgetown has degenerated from being the Caribbean’s Garden City to the Caribbean’s Garbage City. Visitors to Guyana openly note the excitement and positive vibes they feel in Guyana and the optimism that our country is transforming rapidly to become the economic, social, cultural and political epicentre of CARICOM. But they quickly also note that Georgetown is a disgrace.
It is not merely that Georgetown is dirty and full of garbage; it is also that the city looks run-down. The pride of Georgetown and Guyana, a truly global icon in buildings, the Stabroek Market, is an eyesore. The Bourda and La Penitence markets are disgraceful. The iconic City Hall building was left to ruins until the Central Government stepped in. Central Government investments have been misused and unused by the council. Had the PPP/C Central Government not invested massively in Georgetown, the city would be in an even more desperate state.
The City Council has essentially abandoned any pretence of doing even basic repairs for city streets. Since 2020, not a single street has been redone by the City Council and the Mayor. These streets are being rehabilitated and reconstructed, and streetlights are being installed; playgrounds and cemeteries are being transformed under a massive Central Government investment programme in Georgetown. The Central Government has had to take up responsibility to reclaim and clean up city drains and canals. Similarly, the Central Government has had to help keep sluices and pumps operational. For none of these initiatives have the Mayor and City Council shown any inclination to support.
There are areas that could be beautified and become tourist attractions for both local and international visitors. The Central Government has taken on this role. The seawall areas of Georgetown are being transformed into a beautiful recreation and leisure area. Avenues and boulevards are being transformed by the Central Government, similarly, to allow more walking and relaxation to enjoy this beautiful city. The old railway embankment, an eye sore for decades has been transformed into a beautiful recreation boulevard. Cemetery Road is now being made into a landscaped four-lane road. The National Park, Parade Ground and others are being transformed with opportunities for the children of the city to engage in sports, such as tennis, badminton, squash, basketball and football.
The time has come for a Mayor and City Council that work in the interest of the citizens and of Guyana. The present Mayor and the city council continue, as they have for more than 60 years, to behave as though they are only accountable to the PNC. Those of us who live in Georgetown must come together and make a change. Georgetown must become the Garden City of CARICOM again.