The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) will soon launch a Trust Fund at local banking institutions to rehabilitate the historic City Hall building.
City Mayor, Ubraj Narine is urging the public to donate to the fund.
In a statement from the Council’s Public Relations Department, Narine said “we want persons to be able to contribute towards saving City Hall if they wish to.
“City Hall is an important piece of Guyana’s history and there has been lots of talk about rehabilitating the structure but not much has materialised. I however, would like to be the one to see City Hall get the attention that is needed so that the structure could be returned to its once prestigious state,” he added.
The cost of restoring the City Hall building was pegged at more than $200 million.
The Mayor will soon be chairing a subcommittee dedicated to the building’s restoration. The City Hall restoration committee will include members of the private sector, the Tourism Authority and the National Trust among others.
According to the statement, donation boxes will be placed at banks and other locations so that persons would not be inconvenienced.
“All assistance would be appreciated,” Narine said.
Just last month, members of the diplomatic corps joined the M&CC to tour City Hall and other historical sites and facilities that are owned and managed by the council.
Mayor Narine noted that during the tour, there were discussions with the international community about his commitment towards restoring the M&CC building.
Follow up discussions, he said, are expected to take place where members of the diplomatic community will provide information on what assistance they could offer towards rehabilitating the colonial styled structure.
According to the statement, the Mayor also noted that he would be interested in discussing “city to city” relationships with the international community so that Georgetown could meaningfully gain from the mistakes and advances of First World countries with prize winning cities.
