Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine was on Wednesday re-elected unchallenged to serve again in the same capacity for 2020.
Councillors gathered at City Hall where individual votes were tallied. Members of the Private Sector also showed up to witness the election process.
Narine, who was the sole nominee, received 22 votes. Alfred Mentore, the former Deputy Mayor, also returned to serve in that capacity.
Meanwhile, the Council also elected a Finance Committee, which included People’s National Congress (PNC) member, Oscar Clarke; Trichia Richards, Bishram Kuppen, Ivelaw Henry, Yvonne Ferguson, Cynthia Stewart and Alfred Mentore.
The Mayor was first elected to the post in 2018 after the Local Government Elections (LGE). After his re-election, Narine indicated that there have been many challenges throughout his first year as Mayor. He committed to the restoration of the dilapidated City Hall building, which leaked profusely during the ceremony, forcing him to take shelter under an umbrella.
“We had our ups and downs, countless misunderstandings, disagreements and many more. Yet, we have had a year of success…If we’re able to put our shoulders to the wheel as councillors, everybody sees us as one. We must operate as one. I want to focus 2020 on projects, especially City Hall building, green spaces, the disposal of garbage. Those are critical areas that we need to address,” he explained.
Meanwhile, after leaving the confines of the Council’s chambers, he identified some other areas which should be rehabilitated – the first listed was Stabroek Market.
“I want to see a different Stabroek area…I do have a proposal which I submitted to the Ministry of Communities. We need Central Government’s blessings so that we go forward with that project to restructure and revamp the Stabroek Market area,” Narine told the media.
Last year, the City Constabulary had identified the Stabroek Market as one of the prime hotspots for criminal activities. Chief Constable Andrew Foo, who is on administrative leaving pending a current investigation, would have indicated at that time that the marketplace would have been on the radar for quite a while on the basis of the increase in criminal activities.
“Those are two areas that have been identified in terms of criminal hotspots. The Stabroek section: on the weekends, you find a number of criminal activities that are taking place primarily on the bus parks in front of the Stabroek Market,” he had stated.
He had explained that at the Stabroek Market, since it is a transportation hub, persons entering and leaving public transportation are the main targets.
On the other hand, another major issue, which has been difficult to combat, is the illegal dumping of garbage and littering by citizens.
The Mayor is currently in the middle of a controversy with Chairman of Houston Estates, Michael Vieira, whom he publicly said owes City Hall G$400M in taxes. The businessman has since called the Mayor out for being untruthful since Houston Estates has been punctual in its tax payments.
