He highlighted that Government spends a lot of money in the City with respect to roads, cleaning parapets, paying to collect garbage, digging canals, cleaning outfalls and installing new pumps.
            President Jagdeo indicated that the infrastructural landscape of Georgetown is developing and the City Council needs to respond equally.
“Often time what happens in the City is a reflection of what is taking place in the country and I am very pleased with what I see in some parts of the City: booming construction,” he said.
“We have looked at the permits for new buildings, they have to apply to the Ministry of Housing for permits for new buildings and there is practically an explosion in requests for permits. So we see a growing city and if you drive around you would see better services on the part of the private sector, better buildings, nicer buildings more modern facilities.”
Unfortunately, he said, it is not matched by a vision at City Hall to meet this current growth, and noted that it seems as though all that happens in City Hall is squabbling.
President Jagdeo highlighted that Government is spending over US$10M in building a modern waste management facility, even though it is an obligation of the council, because it recognised that the entity “simply won’t do it.”
The modern waste management facility is constructed with geo-synthetic fabric at the bottom so that appropriate leaching can occur. Additionally, it will have to be managed properly so it does not become as atrocious as the current dump site, President Jagdeo noted.
“There are little things that can be done in the City. We have a lot of workers that we support. I keep saying to them just cut the grass on the parapet and remove some of the garbage and the city will look different. A simple thing as cutting the grass becomes a major rocket science task for the council,” President Jagdeo said.
He indicated that Local Government Elections may take place at the end of the year and if this does not happen it will in 2012. Residents of Georgetown will unfortunately have to bear another year with the “visionless council” as such Government will have no other alternative but to continue helping it.
For several weeks Georgetown has been faced with severe garbage pile-up since the City Council is unable to pay contractors to collect garbage even though it is part of its core responsibilities.
The Council pays $75M in wages and salaries per month and yet evidence of work being done in the City is unseen.