Visiting Guyanese lawyer appalled at the state of Georgetown
Councillors should be held accountable, regular municipal elections needed
Stabroek News
March 17, 2004
Mayo Robertson who left Guyana in 1978, in part because of his concern about the political direction of the country, is appalled by the disorder of Georgetown, whose neighbourhoods seem to have been completely neglected.
He blames the people of Georgetown for not holding their councillors accountable for not dealing with their problems but recognises that there is no culture of regular municipal elections which results in their not being responsive to the demands of their constituents. The last local government elections were held in August 1994.
Robertson, a practicing attorney in Silver Springs, Maryland, a Queen's College old boy, and one of the first batch of West Indian-trained lawyers. He attributes this state of affairs to the neighbourhoods being neglected, the planting of structures anywhere and everywhere, lax zoning enforcement and a disregard of the permit regime.
In moving around the city during his recent visit Robertson noted the various mechanic shops, lumberyards, and other businesses which now dot the landscape without regard for what should be residential areas. More disturbing for him was that he did not see any moving water in any of the drains, most of which were overgrown and filled with trash and those that were clear had water which was stagnant.
In an interview with Current Affairs before he left Guyana, the US-based attorney who was one of the featured speakers at a rally hosted by the Forbes Burnham Foundation at City Hall last month noted that, "in too many neighbourhoods people don't repair their property and the preservation of neighbourhoods do not seem to be a priority."
He notes the burnout structure at Camp and Regent Streets from which grass is growing out of the bricks, which he says must be a health hazard and an eyesore.
Robertson whose eldest brother, Ian, teaches at the University of the West Indies and has a sister, Rosalie, also an attorney, who re-migrated in the 90s and practises here, expressed concern about zoning enforcement and the permit regime.
He explained that while it is understandable that people want to make a living there has to be a way of fostering their entrepreneurship without destroying neighbourhoods. He said that disrespect for the rules that govern civic relations "could never be a good thing."
He observed that there are vibrant entrepreneurial classes in places like Barbados and Saint Lucia and that these countries have found a way to properly organise their activities.
Robertson said that the solution to returning the city to its former glory is civic activism, to make people responsible for their own arrangements and identifying and complaining to City Hall about people who trash the neighbourhood.
He said too that people must call on their councillors to deal with the problems of their neighbourhoods and hold their elected representatives accountable for addressing their problems. "If they are relentless in their demands on City Hall and their representatives change is bound to come", he advises. But he stressed that his advice presupposes a culture of frequent elections since in its absence there is no incentive for their representatives to be responsive to their demands.
Robertson, noting the efforts being made to hold local government elections this year observed that it seems to be recognised that elections should be held regularly and that holding them regularly would benefit the neighbourhoods.
Robertson who was attached to the firm of Clarke and Martin prior to his departure from Guyana said his presentation at the rally launching the Forbes Burnham Foundation recognised Burnham's civic activism in the early days of his political career. He said that Burnham agitated for change that was good and tried to articulate a philosophy of self-reliance, which was good. He noted that, "he promised and delivered on free education which was a good thing."
Robertson recalled too that in the 1970s Burnham had recruited a number of Caribbean students to work on the hinterland road project which he described as a good idea "but it didn't pan out".
Robertson, who left Guyana in 1978 because of his discomfort with the political direction in which Burnham was taking the country at the time, spoke out against the referendum on the constitution that was held that year. He stressed that he felt then and still does that it was a bad thing but he recognises that there had been positive things. However, he said that he "had a problem with his (Burnham's) espousal of a philosophy which he called (Cooperative Socialism) but which provided him with the opportunity to concentrate power in the hands of a few people and to stifle dissent."
"I wonder whether socialism was the ideological justification for what Burnham wanted to do or to justify central control if one were to call oneself a socialist".
Robertson said he couldn't explain why Burnham felt it necessary to do that since it created an atmosphere of self-censorship which was unhealthy.
But he observes that the history of the Third World is replete with people who serve their country well but stayed on too long, and cited Haile Selassie, Robert Mugabe, and Eric Gairy, as examples of such leaders.
"It seems that certain political leaders start out with their hearts in the right place and an understanding of the need for political change but in some cases they stayed around too long." But he notes in other cases "their successes made them believe they were right all the time."
Robertson asserts too that Burnham has an important place in Guyana's history and recognises that he was a moving force in the regional integration movement. He recalled Burnham pushing for BWIA to be the regional carrier at a time where there were questions about whether governments should be involved in business. But he notes that Burnham "had an understanding of why as a region it was important to be cohesive and that as a region better use could be made of our resources if things were done jointly than individually and that there was something to be said for regional influence on international issues."
On leaving Guyana some two decades ago, Robertson pursued his interest in international development, one of the other factors that influenced his decision to leave Guyana when he did, and has since obtained a Master's degree in International Relations from John Hopkins University and worked for a while with the Inter-American Foundation in the early 80s. He then enrolled at Georgetown University where he obtained an LL.M and following graduation worked with a trade association and insurance company and in 1990 joined the law firm of Greenberg and Beederman.
He established his own firm in 1994 and does a lot of discrimination and negligence cases as well as cases of police misconduct.
Robertson has not completely abandoned Guyana and in the past had opened a chambers here from 1997-99 but had to close it for economic and logistical reasons. He explained that postponements of cases were indiscriminately granted and most were given for the convenience of the lawyers. This he said was a ridiculous situation and did not allow the sort of involvement with his practice here that he wanted.
He explained that he had been motivated to open the practice here because it was almost a decade since he left and there was a lot of interest and some economic movement and he felt that it was worth a look.
He said too that he had also stayed close with his classmates from UWI among whom were Keith Sobian, now principal of the Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica and a former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, Claire Roberts, Parnell Campbell who was a Deputy Prime Minister of St Vincent, (Tapley Seaton, a former (?) Attorney General of St Kitts) and Dr Francis Alexis of Grenada with whom he roomed while at Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad.
Robertson said too that following the 25th anniversary celebrations of the class of 1971 from Cave Hill, he has been running an internship programme for UWI law students who spend a month during the summer with his practice in Maryland.
Despite having to close his practice here in 1999, Robertson has not abandoned the idea of a practice here as his brother Ian has always thought that he should look seriously at the Caribbean region.
As is usual with QC old boys, he has stayed close with a friend from school days. His friend is Donald Sinclair with whom he worked on the Visit Guyana Year that was observed in 1996 and during that time visited Guyana about two or three times.