Dear Editor,
Thanks to PNC mismanagement, the inexorable finally became inevitable, as the predictable fall of the roof became unavoidable. On Wednesday morning, the disastrous roof of the Stabroek Market Wharf caved in and crumbled at this ramshackle site. This derelict has been quite an eyesore for many painful years, and has been quite an embarrassment for the nation as ships come into the Georgetown harbour and moor alongside the wharf. Imagine being greeted with such an ugly site, and having to tolerate such abhorrence while in port!
And now a worse scenario presents itself in an unsightly, sickening, and disgusting picture to be endured for who knows how long it will take to remove this ghastly mess. The market falls under the jurisprudence of the M&CC, which is visionary-reactive by the profound stewardship of the PNC.
The PNC has always won the Georgetown mayorship, and has dominated the governance of the city through its majority rule. A garden city has been reduced to a garbage city, accolades to the PNC. They have proudly, if not purposely, defamed the name of the city which played host to many international guests, including the late Queen Elizabeth 11.
A once-manicured garden had blossomed with the freshness of the air from the Atlantic Ocean and been tailored into a well pruned playground to be the pride of the capital. Slowly, but surely, it dissipated into a maimed figure, amputated by the PNC’s mutilation.
While in power, and out of power, the PNC-controlled supervision has permitted the destruction of the infrastructure of the safety nets which were guarding the city to prevent flooding. Today, due to hindsight or lack of foresight, floods are damnable to present watery conditions, which create traffic hazards, people cowering to safety from cars spewing water as they drive by, and pedestrians having to walk shoeless at times. The floods do present a health hazard when contaminated with the polluted water from the drains.
Garbage piling up all around the city has manifested into a pest-infested place. You can see rats, rodents and insects feasting on remnants. Overgrown grass is home to reptiles. Empty bottles and newspapers litter the paved drains, which become blocked and overspilling takes place. Many wooden objects, including carton boxes, are lying around and become a fire hazard. There are many old buildings which are deserted and have overgrown bushes and shrubs with still water, creating a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other unwelcome characters, including bums and drug addicts. The city has languished into this uncomfortable disdain due to the cavalier type of discipline executed by the PNC management they publicly claim as their domain.
Unfortunately, a fine piece of Guyana’s history was left abandoned, unkept and fallen into a shabby impairment. City Hall used to be a majestic home as an urban spectacle, but the PNC mayors of yesteryear have all contributed to the demise that today’s mayor has to retain and resolve. Not unscathed, like himself, many have ridden the wind which has blown a sorrowful breeze on Town Hall premises. This prestigious infamy lies at the feet of the proud PNC who insist on pursuing the brilliantly lit road of vanity.
Financial management was, is, and will always be one of the weakest elements incorporated when factoring in PNC weaknesses. This is coupled with the corrupted corroboration of mathematical fantasy and their ingenious analysis when confronted with any type of calculation. No wonder the City is bereft of money, and can never have enough, due to the inadequacy of accountable revenue!
Poverty has remained a daunting nightmare, and a cash-strapped M&CC is always under the eyes of the Auditor General. But yet the PNC strives to stay in a plagued environment filled with dirt.
The Stabroek Market is a focal point, and one of the centres of attraction for visitors, be they local or overseas. Shoppers are overwhelmed with the calamity of traffic congestion, vendor harassment, pickpockets, garbage, stench, confusion, drug dealers, noise nuisance and crowd unruliness in and around that area of prime tapestry and artistic confluence. A hallmark clock remains sleeping while keeping a watchful eye on the decomposed PNC management to resurrect life in itself once again and serve a functional purpose.
The PPP/C Government, since taking office in 2020, has time and again ploughed money into a depleted system, bleeding from porous management and some unhygienic officers feeding a mechanism which is destroying rather than building a city. The President himself, along with Cabinet members and other volunteers, has personally cleaned up the city of garbage literally, only to return to find that the city has returned to its mismanaged and mangled manner. The photographers are still roaming with their cameras to find a mayor who will relinquish an assumed prestige position and dirty their hands and feet to work alongside the President in any clean-up campaign.
Regardless of which side one may be on, one cannot deny the fact that the PPP/C Government has perpetually demonstrated its commitment to work in the interest of the nation by cleaning up all the mess left by a PNC governance whenever they are in power. Wherever their fangs claw, Guyanese will get hurt and feel the pain, and it’s the PPP/C Government which has to provide the remedial effect.
The Stabroek Market trauma is yet another result of the PNC karma. Luckily, only a few were hurt. It could have been worse! But the damage has been done, and the PPP/C Government has to plaster yet another PNC sore.
Yours faithfully,
Jai Lall