The new city

It seems Guyana is to have a new city. Not a town, or an urban settlement, but a city. And there will be no national competitions for naming it, because it appears to have a name already: Silica City. That certainly has no historical associations, so perhaps it is intended to reflect what the government hopes will be Guyana’s industrial future. Of course, there is always the possibility that this is only a temporary designation.

That the administration is serious about this particular development is demonstrated by the fact that it has been mentioned no less than three times in the last few months. The first occasion was when President Irfaan Ali was the speaker at the GMSA Awards Ceremony in December last year; the second was when he spoke to Parliament in February; and the third was when he addressed the nation on the eve of Independence Day last week.

For all that the President has been promoting the idea recently, the proposal is not a new one. In 2013, when the head of state was Minister of Housing, he had referred to Silica City at the Fourth International Building and Construction Exposition. An accompanying release said that the new city would be located to begin with on 500 acres of land along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.

Mr Ali explained at the time that the decision was taken in the light of the rising sea levels, and the fact that all the publicly owned land on the East Coast Demerara for housing had been utilised, while the East Bank had reached the penultimate stage of development. One can only remark that citizens will be surprised there is no more housing land available on the East Bank.

“At the speed at which the Ministry works, we are going to finish 10,000 [house lots] this year and next year we will be faced with the challenge as to where next, and that is why we are launching this futuristic vision of a sustainable community along the highway,” the Minister was quoted as stating. He went on to say, “There is a shift in opportunity and a shift in thinking. For us to have a sustainable future in Guyana, we must have a futuristic outlook that understands the environmental consequences and technological changes; Silica City offers a sustainable and viable solution for the country’s housing needs.”

Except that this is not just about housing. Industry and commerce is intended to be accommodated there, for obvious reasons. No one will move onto the sand belt unless there are jobs to be had. The release said that the Ministry of Housing was encouraging all potential investors, bankers, buyers to register with Silica City, and that any house lot applicants who were willing to accept an allocation there would have their documents processed immediately.

Nothing happened in the eight-year interval, initially because faced with nebulous propositions the business class is notoriously cautious, and then because in 2015 the coalition won the national election. But now the proposal has been

revived, and in the current oil climate the government thinks it will have the resources to implement its grandiose scheme. In his recent references the President has added a few more justifications for the new city, including that we need to spread the population, reduce land prices and stop the traffic congestion. The idea was, he said, to create improved living conditions, new areas of growth and new population centres with major facilities provided by central government. “We are exploring this opportunity along the new four-lane highway,” he was quoted as saying, “because we are already seeing the pressure on the city itself.”

What he is not telling the public is that for Silica City to be viable at all, it would probably also have to become an administrative centre, despite the fact that in December he called it “a secondary city.” That notwithstanding, enterprises which need licences and permits and are in the import and export business, are going to be reluctant to strand themselves up the highway, four-lane or not, if they have to deal with officialdom on a regular basis.

Georgetown is also a port, although it may be that the government expects that its significance would be diminished if they locate the deep-water harbour elsewhere, as seems likely. One presumes the administration has also thought about how the new city would be connected to other areas of economic importance while bypassing Georgetown.

The PPP has never come to terms with the current capital, where the opposition party is consistently voted in to dominate the City Council, and segments of whose population periodically bring urban activities to a halt with their street protests. A new administrative centre, however, would effectively become a new capital. Over the years there have been a number of letters to this newspaper, mostly emanating from the diaspora, advocating moving the capital because of climate change. It is not a simple matter. It is not as if we can plant a brand new city anywhere which looks like a blank space on the map. There are Indigenous lands and the preservation of our forest and eco-systems to be taken into consideration. As such, at least the choice of land on the highway can be defended. But there are all kinds of other issues to be weighed too, not least economic ones.

It will be argued that several countries have moved their capitals, the most famous example being Brasilia, which was designed by a group of world-famous architects, including Oscar Niemeyer. In 1987 UNESCO designated the city a World Heritage Site on the grounds of its modernist architecture and artistic urban planning. Two other examples are Islamabad, designed by Greek architects, and Abuja in Nigeria, the plans for which were created by a consortium of three American architectural firms following a competitive international

bidding process. Given the record of this government, what one can say with some confidence is there will be no one of Niemeyer’s stature designing Silica City, and there may not even be a competitive bidding process. Awarding contracts to friends and associates has been a particular fault of previous PPP/C administrations.

The creation of a new city, even if found to be necessary because it will be sited on higher ground, or at least thought to be desirable, is not something to be left in the hands of a government to decide. It has to be a matter which is open for discussion by the whole population. Rather than the somewhat arrogant invitation of 2013 for those seeking house lots there to submit applications, we first need a full exposition of what the government intends, starting with the precise location of the proposed settlement. New capitals in various parts of the world have cost billions, and while Silica City will obviously be a very modest effort in comparison, it will not be cheap to establish. The plans for its various stages have to be carefully thought out – not something the government is good at – and the draft put to the public for debate and input.

Then there is the question of Georgetown. Its future status as a capital will be indicated by whether any of the offices of government or its agencies are moved to Silica City. Whether that happens or not, the prospect of a new city has implications for the people who live in the old one, and they are entitled to some answers. Many residents like their capital, and would not relish the prospect of it being allowed to fall into total disrepair, let alone be engulfed by the ocean. That sea levels are rising and that GT lies below high-tide level is no news to anyone. What Georgetowners would like to know is what the government’s longer-term plans for their city are. Does it intend the capital should be abandoned eventually? If it doesn’t, what studies has it commissioned to look at the city’s survival in the era of climate change?

As a matter of fact, what studies has it commissioned to look at the vulnerability of the whole of our low-lying coastland where the bulk of the population resides? Silica City can’t provide a substitute for what Little Biaboo, for example, produces.

“Dream big, your government will support those dreams,” said the President expansively in reference to the new city. What citizens want to know is what precisely the government’s dream is in this regard.