Outrage Over Loss of Public Parking Space on Water Street

Dear Editor, 

Thursday morning, while driving along Water Street looking for a place to park, I turned into the parking lot opposite Muneshwers, near Fogarty’s Building. To my surprise—and frankly my disappointment—I was told that the lot is no longer public and is now controlled by Muneshwers for its employees only.

I was appalled.

I say this because I clearly remember that during my time as Mayor, that very parking lot was under the authority of the Georgetown City Council. It was public parking, meant to serve everyone—residents, shoppers, workers, and visitors—especially in a part of the city that is already bursting at the seams.

This situation raises some very simple but serious questions. How did this parking lot move from public control into the hands of a private business? Who approved this? Was Cabinet involved? Was the City Council consulted? Or did this happen quietly, without the knowledge of the citizens who rightfully own these spaces?

If Muneshwers is paying for the use of this parking lot, then the public deserves to know: how much is being paid, to whom, and under what agreement? Is the revenue going to the City Council, the central government, or some other agency? And more importantly, how does this arrangement benefit the ordinary people of Georgetown?

Water Street is already choked with traffic. Finding parking is a daily struggle. To take away public parking and reserve it for a single business only adds to the frustration of citizens who are just trying to go about their day. Public space should serve the public—not convenience one business at the expense of everyone else.

My humble suggestion is that this decision be revisited and reversed. That parking lot belongs to the people of Guyana. If any arrangement is to be made involving public property, it must be transparent, fair, and clearly in the public interest.

Georgetown is our city. Its spaces should not be quietly privatized while citizens are left to circle the blocks, wondering what happened to what once belonged to them.

Yours truly,
Pt. Ubraj Narine, JP, COA
Former Staff Sgt. (GDF), Mayor
City of Georgetown