Mayor touts Regent Street as tourist attraction
by Stacey Davidson
GEORGETOWN Mayor Hamilton Green feels he can turn Regent Street into a tourist attraction.
The street is the battleground of his latest war with pavement vendors and two weeks ago saw bloody clashes which left four city constables wounded and about 16 sellers charged with assault and other offences.
Green late Friday met some Regent Street businessmen asking for their help to restore the sanctity of the stretch.
He explained that the City Council alone cannot afford to charter the way forward in maintaining the integrity and securing the well-being of Georgetown.
He recalled that Regent Street and Lodge were identified as two pilot areas to tackle the solid waste disposal problem under a programme funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Guyana.
As such, the council is requesting Regent Street businessmen to donate cardboard and paper and to beautify their parapets, buildings and immediate surroundings.
The Cleansing Department of the council will be collecting cardboard boxes for recycling and these will be transported to the Caribbean Containers Inc. paper recycling plant at Farm, East Bank Demerara, he said.
The firm is buying cardboard for the paper recycling mill.
Green said the collection will be done in an effort to avoid dumping on the parapets and immediate surroundings.
"We ask you to separate your waste in a way that we can collect the cardboard separately", he urged.
The council is also asking businessmen to have visible containers for waste.
"...you have a special responsibility from now to ensure that plastic and other things are not disposed of in the canals, but in the receptacles which are visible to your customers which your staff can use", Green told the group
"And in fact, it is hoped that as a result of the process, Regent Street may very well be the main tourist attraction", the Mayor stated.
No newsprint, plasticised or wax paper are needed for the project.
Green said this process cannot be successful without the involvement of the people.
"When we look at the details of the project, we recognise that an important component has to do with people".
"It is no use buying trucks, getting a brand-new incinerator and the people who produce waste are not sensitised and aware of what we require of them and what is right", he argued.
"And so, a component of the project identifies two geographic areas in Georgetown, which would come in the form of a public relations programme. The two areas consist of a community in Lodge and Regent Street", Green stated.
According to him, the whole question of solid waste has to do with the individual's attitude and response to this question.
"What the project aims to do is (to see) how we can dispose of our waste. The first phase includes the rehabilitation of the existing (waste disposal) site at the back of Le Repentir (cemetery)."
He said discussions are ongoing to determine what process of operation would be suitable, whether incineration, composting or landfilling.
"Those areas have been identified as two pilot areas for the public awareness project.
"That will include a number of things - that project will complement a much wider project which is being undertaken, that is, the re-planning of the City of Georgetown", the Mayor pointed out.
He reiterated that each business entity on Regent Street should make every effort to keep its surroundings beautiful.
"We expect businesses on Regent Street to begin by making their buildings attractive".
"Treat our parapets as a sacred entity and part of the city, and I am supposing each business person regards the parapet in front of his or her building as their special responsibility," Green said.
He said no taxes will be charged for this beautification process, or for extension to existing buildings.
The Mayor added that no containers will be allowed on Regent Street during working hours, but only at 06:00 hours and 18:00 hours.
He said this issue is non-negotiable, because of the size of containers and the problems encountered in the past.
If containers are found on Regent Street during working hours, these will be seized with all its contents, the Mayor indicated.
He also said he has received reports that some businessmen are encouraging certain persons to sell on their premises, which is in breach of a court order the council got last month blocking sellers from the pavements.
"We'll ask you to desist from that practice and ensure that in no way you encumber the pavement or the area close to the pavement".
"And that in keeping with the law, you keep entrances free. It is unlawful for you to block entrances, and so the little clever operation, we understand, initiated by some businesses must come to an end on November 4, (yesterday)", Green said.
"You can sell all you want inside the shop; we are not prepared to move one set of people and have another set in all sorts of ways (in) breach (of) the law", he declared.
Medical Officer of the Mayor and City Council, Dr Vibert Shury said the Mandela Avenue will be extended to five more acres westwards.
He said work on the project will commence before the end of the year.
Litter bins for light garbage will also be placed along Regent Street and in the Lodge area, he stated.
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