HGP Nightly News – Just when the Georgetown City Council thought it had grasped the full scale of what the Government was doing, it got significantly worse. The Ministry of Public Works has quietly gazetted another 35 city streets as public roads, more than doubling the original seizure and bringing the total number of Georgetown streets now ripped from the City Council’s control to a staggering 57.
The move was dated March 24th, 2026, and it was made without any more consultation than the first batch received, which is to say, none at all.
The latest list reads like a tour of Georgetown’s most recognisable and commercially significant addresses. Main Street. Water Street. South Road. North Road. Homestretch Avenue. Independence Boulevard. Avenue of the Republic. Quamina Street. Church Street. Carmichael Street. Broad Street. Waterloo Street. Duke Street. Princess Street. These are not obscure back lanes, they are the arteries of the capital city, the roads that define Georgetown’s identity, drive its commerce and host its most important national events.
Also gazetted are Fourth Street and Third Street in Alberttown, Durban Street, Front Street, Jackson Street, Longden Street, Lance Gibbs Drive, Norton Street, Orange Walk Street, Parade Street, Sussex Street, Thomas Street, Barrack Street, Crown Street, Hunter Street, Delph Street, Arapaima Street and a series of field access roads in Sophia.
The consequences for the City Council go far beyond wounded pride. With each street transferred to direct government control, the Council loses not just the road itself but everything that comes with it, the authority to grant permission for billboards and businesses along those corridors, the ability to lease out areas during national events, and the revenue that flows from all of the above.
Mashramani. Independence celebrations. Every major national event that fills these streets with vendors, crowds and commercial activity now generates income that will flow not into the municipality’s coffers but directly into the hands of central government. For a City Council already operating with limited financial resources, this is not merely an inconvenience. It is a body blow to its capacity to function.
The Georgetown City Council has made clear it is not going quietly. Already pushing back loudly against the original 22-street gazette, the Council has now doubled down on its promise to pursue legal action, a battle that is shaping up to be one of the most significant constitutional confrontations between central and local government that Guyana has seen in recent years.
