Before an event can be held within the Georgetown municipality, organisers are required to seek permission from the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) but this has not been happening.
The prevailing situation was bemoaned by Mayor Ubraj Narine who during a press conference at City Hall on Friday said that the practice is beginning to “raise eyebrows.”
“Organisers no longer seek permission to host events in the city as long as they receive permission from the Guyana Police Force,” Narine said.
However, Narine explained that it is a legal requirement for these promoters to secure permission from the M&CC before approaching the Police or any other authority for permission.
“There are certain organisers who host events, [they] don’t come to the city council but they get the police approval to host the events, these things are raising eyebrows,” Narine said.
The mayor noted that the City Council has the authority to stop events for which permission was not sought and given, however, he said the Council has been reluctant to do so as it would lead to a loss of investment.
“You don’t want to do those things because that person will invest a lot of money and so on but if we ought to act we will be chastised too you will hear the City Council stop the event and all these things,” he said.
He added, “we’re just asking the citizen or the organisers to follow the law, they should be law-abiding citizens and things can go smoothly.”
Narine also commented on the granting of approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), noting too that these various permissions can amount to burdensome costs for organisers.
“So, you have to come here to city council to pay for permission, I don’t know if you have to pay to the Guyana Police Force, you have to pay to EPA too,” Narine said.
The Mayor called for the Police Force, EPA and M&CC to work together to create a strategy to simplify the process and make it easier for business to be done.
