The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown is looking to forge ahead with the rehabilitation of City Hall, at a whopping cost of more than $200M. This, however, would require immense support from the public.
In a statement issued yesterday, the municipality said that it will be making a special appeal to citizens and other interested persons to assist in the rehabilitation of the iconic City Hall building.
Georgetown Mayor, Pandit Ubraj Narine, said he is keen on rehabilitating the historic building and would soon be chairing a subcommittee dedicated to its restoration.
The municipality is, therefore, moving towards setting up accounts at local banking institutions which will go towards a building trust fund. “We want persons to be able to contribute towards saving City Hall if they wish to. City Hall is an important piece of Guyana’s history and there has been lots of talk about rehabilitating the structure but not much has materialised. I, however, would like to be the one to see City Hall get the attention that is needed so that the structure could be returned to its once prestigious state,” said Mayor Narine.
He said too that all assistance would be appreciated and went on to disclose that efforts will be made to even set up donation boxes at secured locations for those who wish to avoid the hassle of standing in link to contribute to a bank account.
Just last month, members of the diplomatic corps joined the M&CC on their first city tour since the swearing-in of Pandit Narine as mayor. The objective of the tour was to give the international representatives a first-hand look at some of the historical sites around the city and facilities that are owned and managed by the council. These sites included the municipal abattoir, the Stabroek Market wharf and City Hall among others.
Mayor Narine noted that during the tour discussions were had with the international community about his commitment toward restoring the M&CC building. Follow up discussions, he said, are expected to take place where members of the diplomatic community will provide information on what assistance they could offer toward rehabilitating the colonial-styled structure.
The mayor also noted that he would be interested in discussing “city to city” relationships with the international community so that Georgetown could meaningfully gain from the mistakes and advances of First World countries with prize-winning cities.
