The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) says the major shortcomings in the management of the city is not “organic” but rather, an government engineered.
This was according to the party’s General Secretary, Sherwin Benjamin during a press conference today.
“What we are seeing now is a pattern, and people can see it. Municipalities are being starved of funds. Government agencies are not paying debts owed on properties within those municipalities. At the same time, efforts to update property valuations to reflect present-day realities are blocked,” the official said.
He noted that there events are not isolated issues because they all point in the same direction: “this is how municipalities are weakened. This is how citizens are made to suffer”.
He told reporters, “Garbage collection weakens. Drainage systems come under stress. Infrastructure deteriorates. Basic services decline. Citizens are effectively being punished and denied the services they rely on, not because the system cannot work, but because it is being constrained from doing so. Let us be clear, this is not governance. This is a strategy.”
He added that at the same time, the central government is moving to seize control of roads and use oil revenues to rehabilitate them, as if to show that they alone can deliver.
Against that background, the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s 2026 budget tells the real story, Benjamin noted.
He reported that the city projects revenue of about GY$4.41 billion against expenditure of about GY$5.69 billion, a deficit of roughly GY$1.28 billion. At the same time, more than GY$150 billion is owed to the city, he added.
“So, this is not just a financial issue. It is a system under pressure. The City’s ability to raise revenue depends on valuations controlled by the Ministry of Finance, valuations that are widely acknowledged to be outdated. At the same time, key decisions require ministerial approval. So, the city is constrained where it matters most, yet still expected to deliver services.”
The PNCR official’s comments come days after President Dr Irfaan Ali defended the government’s decision to designate several city streets as public roads under central management.
He insisted that the government is not “playing politics.”
