Dear Editor,
The Government of Guyana is desperately attempting to position itself as the saviour of Georgetown through its so-called “Georgetown Restoration Plan.” But the nation must not be fooled. What we are witnessing is a textbook case of political pyromaniacs posing as firefighters, the very people who set the blaze now rushing in with cameras and hoses to pretend they are rescuing the city.
It is an uncomfortable truth, but one that must be stated plainly, the People’s Progressive Party government created many of the conditions that have long crippled the capital city. Equally sad is the fact that the Granger administration failed to take decisive action to correct these structural issues during its shorten time in office.
For over two decades, the PPP refused to hold Local Government Elections. Instead of restoring democracy, they opted to create the Local Government Commission and repeal critical parts of the Local Government Act, moves that gave the Commission and the Minister unprecedented powers over local governance. Rather than empowerment, the Georgetown Municipality received central control, political manipulation, and deliberate marginalisation.
For decades, successive PPP governments starved the Georgetown municipality of resources while exerting tight central government influence. The result was predictable: a municipal council stripped of autonomy, starved of finance, dependent on ministerial approval for even the most basic works, and eventually rendered a shadow of what a functioning local authority should be.
This chronic underfunding and political strangulation directly contributed to the steady decline in the city’s infrastructure, sanitation, and overall management.
Yet, now, post-elections 2025, the same political architects of Georgetown’s decline are parading themselves as heroic rescuers. They behave as if the Council had been well-funded but negligent. This could not be further from the truth.
It is ironic, if not insulting, that these political pyromaniacs continue to pour billions of taxpayers’ dollars into GUYSUCO, a sector they openly admit is underperforming, while refusing the Georgetown Municipality even a fraction of this financial attention. Over the last two years, more than $28 billion has been pumped into GUYSUCO, only for the President to publicly scold its management for poor performance at the opening of GUYEXPO and threaten to bring in new leadership. Taxpayers fund endless bailouts, yet the capital city receives crumbs.
One must ask: Why could the Georgetown Municipality not receive even a small percentage of these wasted billions? The answer is simple: power and control.
The PPP has never controlled the Georgetown Municipality. Therefore, their strategy for decades has been to starve and weaken it, hoping this would provide them a political advantage. GUYSUCO, on the other hand, represents a loyal voting bloc. So despite its failures, it receives unlimited taxpayer-funded life support.
The rise of WIN and the electorate’s rejection of APNU/PNC have shifted the political landscape. The PPP now senses what they believe to be a golden opportunity to finally seize control of the municipality, and, by extension, advance their long-term goal of achieving political dominance across all levels of governance.
Citizens must understand this: the PPP is not fixing Georgetown because they care. They are intervening because they are determined to control every democratic space. Their sudden interest in “beautifying” the capital is not about civic pride. It is about political conquest.
These actions form part of a broader pattern of political maneuvering aimed at long-term dominance, even edging toward the creation of a de facto one-party state. Imagine, even briefly, a Guyana where the PPP holds unchecked authority at every tier of governance, without a strong opposition or any counterweight to their power. That is the path we are being led down.
So let the political pyromaniacs continue to parade as heroic firefighters. Let them clear drains, paint parapets, place bins and plant trees. The people are finally getting some of the services long denied to them by the very PPP. But we will not be gullible, nor will we forget who lit the fire in the first place, we see through the machinations and understand exactly what is happening
Yours truly
Clayon F. Halley
