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Why would City Council be piling on more pressure at this time?

May 01, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

I was deeply disturbed to see in this time of severe crises of the Covid-19 pandemic, the political impasse with the elections still incomplete, and the country being buffeted by a world that is experiencing declining global economic activity, that the Public Relations Officer of the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown would be badgering property owners to pay up their rates, through the letters columns of the daily newspapers.
Most private businesses have had to be shuttered causing untold financial hardships to the owners and the employees who were involuntarily laid off, the vendors have had to stay home and stop plying their trade, the proceeds of which they normally use to cover their daily expenses — with no money leftover and no money in savings, they are now struggling to keep the pot boiling as they say.
Then there are the pensioners who have to join long lines at post offices at great risk to their health to uplift their pittances, which just cover the barest of essentials. Also, the circumstances surrounding the greatly reduced need for minibus and taxi services, virtually bringing public transportation in the city to a standstill, and the privation that has caused the owners, drivers and conductors.
I cannot therefore understand why amongst all this austerity the City Council expects persons to rush down to City Hall or to some bill-paying service provider to pay up their rates as a priority at this time. And for what are they rushing to pay up their dues to the Council?
The Day Care service has halted, restaurants, barber shops, etc., have closed, thus no longer needing the requisite public health licences, the Abattoir roof has caved in bringing meat processing there to a halt, construction in the city has all but stopped, thus nullifying the necessity for engineering services. Bridges and roads are not being built; yards are not being visited by Environmental Officers nor are they spraying for mosquitoes, rodent or vectors. And the list goes on and on.
Some cities around the world are donating thousands of masks to residents as a public health initiative; Georgetown has not even given personal protective equipment to its own employees. Other cities are helping the elderly, the homeless and migrants – providing from food to hygiene kits – our capital is doing no such thing.
While banks and other financial service providers, utility companies etc., are offering to reduce interest rates, defer loan payments and to relax bill payment schedules, our city fathers and mothers are chasing us down and demanding that we make as a priority the payment of property rates from the few pennies that we have in hand, while not knowing where the next ones will come from.
Sincerely,
Anu Bihari

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