We must move on in nation-building: a look at town planning

Dear Editor,
As we move on along the road of development, we must focus our attention on the various projects inherited from the previous administration, and examine their various aspects with a mindset towards progress.
Some of these projects – and the list is long – where there were glaring defects, have to be either dismantled or otherwise rectified to meet modern standards. On that note, I would like to focus on one such project: the Durban Park, or what the APNU/AFC Coalition called the “Jubilee Park”. I have a few suggestions for this “pet project” of theirs.
In the first place, it is an eyesore and a project that was set up with hideous and dubious motives. We are all well aware of the reasons for the great importance placed on Durban Park, whereas the National Park was grossly neglected. The voodoo reasons of the APNU/AFC for Durban Park were blatantly obvious, and, in my book, should not be tolerated. In any event, we cannot countenance this eyesore, and urgent plans have to be made to address it.
Firstly, this edifice should be dismantled, and the materials sold at a reduced cost to poor homeowners and squatters to build their homes in the designated regularised areas. The wood and galvanised sheets are ideal building materials for poor homeowners, who would make good use of these building material.
In its place, I would suggest the building of a modern, state-of-the-art municipal market. Now, a municipal market would do three things: (a) Provide a new area for shopping, something that is woefully lacking in the city. The shopper coming into the city would have a choice in his shopping, or varied choices in his shopping.
(b) Solve the problem of traffic congestion that presently exists at the two major markets, Stabroek and Bourda.
It is certainly an appalling and outrightly dangerous situation at the two aforementioned markets with people and traffic intermingling at dangerously close proximity to each other. This kind of situation is ideal for thieves, pick-pockets, and bandits of all kinds to have a field day; and
(c) Bring an end to roadside vending, something for which we have been clamouring for years.
Dr Irfaan Alli, who is a graduate in urban planning, would appreciate the fact that Georgetown is a bad example when it comes to congestion, making the city an urban jungle and a place where roadside vending is a headache. We must rise to the occasion where modern standards have to be observed in the city. The time to do so is now!

Respectfully,
Neil Adams