Prime Minister, Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips is supporting the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s authority to force contractors and agencies to comply with the city’s by-laws.
These remarks were made following an engagement with Mayor Ubraj Narine and Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentore. In this meeting, the local officials bemoaned the construction of drains and revetment work without consultation with the City Engineer’s Department.
Mayor Narine highlighted the work on Vlissingen Road next to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) base, an area that has technical challenges owing to the pump station being located nearby. He stated that the drains being constructed are narrower than what existed, and no consultation was done with the Council on the construction.
Narine also claimed that work being done on Camp Street in front of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has already shown signs that surrounding drains would be compromised.
The Mayor contended that the Council was not anti-development but promoted collaboration to ensure all stakeholders were involved to avoid unnecessary inconvenience to the citizens of Georgetown.
PM Phillips has offered to have a joint venture on Camp Street, spanning Middle Street to Lamaha Street, which was lauded by the Mayor.
In an update on the challenges facing the municipality, Narine stated that he hoped this demonstration would help to thaw the ice that exists between the Government and the municipality and promote greater collaboration to truly realise “One Guyana” regardless of political affiliation, race, or gender.
While noting that the municipality was not without its challenges, he outlined that engineers of the Council enjoyed a good working relationship with all their counterparts and this relationship was commendable.
Following the meeting with the Prime Minister, there would be a follow-up with the engineers and the Town Clerk.
Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Mentore stated that a matter of concern from the Council was the apparent external influence of its officers who were sometimes called and given instructions counter to the decisions of the Council and without the knowledge of the Council. This coupled with the Council’s inability to discipline officers has resulted in a precarious situation.
