Tense atmosphere in city as Guyana awaits GECOM’s declaration

Just one day after Guyanese went to the polls to elect a new Government, the city of Georgetown was reduced to almost a ghost town as the country awaits the official declaration of results by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
Though Tuesday was not a holiday, businesses remained closed as the commercial district was at a standstill.

When this publication visited several parts of the business hub, a few persons were seen walking in the desolate streets.
“I am so anxious to get the results because I cannot understand everybody locking up. We don’t need no riot in this place, we don’t need no 80 days strike. I need peace, love, and harmony and be quiet, sit and listen for the results and who win, win,” Linda Forde, a resident of Georgetown, who was walking along the isolated street said.
Further up Regent Street, Jomanna Cyrus, a trainee teacher at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), said that she is hoping that everything returns to normal.
“I was kind of surprised because I was expecting persons would have probably turned out. It is kind of shocking, I guess persons are scared. When the results are out, based on the atmosphere now, probably I might not see anybody on. I am not expecting any violence, I am expecting persons to accept the result as it is,” she explained.
Another person who identified herself as Aubery said that the closing of the businesses in Georgetown would be taking “food out of a person’s mouths.”
“I feel the workers are being inconvenienced because if we don’t go to work, we don’t get paid. We have to live and we need to survive after the election we are all still Guyanese”, she said.
Meanwhile, many business places around the city were closed and, in some cases, those who turned up for work were sent home.
Over 600,000 registered electors were on March 2, expected to cast their ballots across Guyana in what was considered Guyana’s most important election.