Government will continue to bail out M&CC

Government will continue to inject financial aid into City Hall towards the improvement of the city and its environs. 

President Bharrat Jagdeo made this announcement during a press conference on Tuesday October 4 at the Office of the President.

He said, “I think we have to do this and we will assist the city; it is not Hamilton Green’s city, anything good will have to come without his being involved.” 

The President emphasised that the government will continue to lend its support towards City Hall, in recognition of the fact that the city belongs to all citizens; and as such, the Administration continues to invest large sums towards its enhancement.

“The government will be supportive, we don’t have a choice, this is our city, we cannot say that it is run by Hamilton Green or the PNC, so we don’t pay attention to it, this is why we have pumped so much money into the city,” Jagdeo stated.

Testimony to this, he revealed, is the $500M presently being invested by Central Government for road improvement works around the city. 

President Jagdeo also pointed out that every single road in the city built over the last 15 years was funded by the Central Government.

As for other investments made towards the enhancement and general improvement of the city, he said, “We just bought some garbage trucks to give to City Hall; hopefully that will make a difference. Then we have the new dump site (located at Eccles); thankfully the people in South Georgetown could be relieved. We now have a modern landfill site.”

The Head of State acknowledged that there are still a lot of things left to be done, and expressed confidence that there are some “excellent people” within City Hall who could make a difference.

President Jagdeo, in August of this year, offered a financial bailout, amounting to $215M, to the City Council, to relieve the council of its ongoing financial woes, and to enable the municipality to meet outstanding liabilities, including wages owed to staff and amounts due to garbage collectors for several months.

He announced that the government will be paying $80M in rates and taxes to the Council, in addition to which $120M will be injected into the municipality to help meet its outstanding liabilities and to accelerate its efforts to keep the city clean.

And a further $15 million will be provided by the Central Government to the City Council for cleaning up Le Repentir Cemetery.