Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Ganga Persaud, said that government has had recent engagements with two agencies that would like to get involved in the recycling of solid waste, one of which has already started work in establishing operational infrastructure.
That company, Persaud pointed out, will focus on the recycling of tyres and at a later stage, Styrofoam and plastic.
He said that the second company is more interested in recycling plastic and cardboard. “We will be engaging those two companies in the third week of this month,” he added.
Persaud also stated that while indiscriminate dumping has been observed countrywide, emphasis should be placed on the capital city as he called on the relevant entities to enhance their management system.
“We are calling on them to better the situation as to cope with the issue of solid waste management and remove the scourge of being an untidy set of people and that we are presenting an environment that is less welcoming and healthier to Guyanese and persons who would want to visit us and who would want to travel through Georgetown,” Minis-ter Persaud said on Tuesday at a press conference.
He said that while there is some development with regards to the management of solid waste, Region 4 has been a grave disappointment.
“We have Haags Bosch which was expected to handle the waste from Region 4… that is a huge investment made by the Government of Guyana. Unfortunately, that investment has not removed the difficulty with regards to the collection and disposal,” he noted.
The minister said that over the past couple of months, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development pursued initiatives at three levels, with the first targeted at engaging the local government entities which are charged with the responsibility for the collection and disposal of solid waste.
He said that while they have received much co-operation and support outside of Georgetown, this has not been the case in the capital.
“Between 2010 and 2011, we would have, as a ministry, given to the Municipality of Georgetown, nine compactor trucks and three pickups all intended to support the solid waste drive of the Municipa-lity of Georgetown… The present state of affairs is that there is only one compactor truck that is operable now… I am hoping that the city in itself will seek to make operational those compactor trucks which they have at their disposal so that we can clear the present buildup and restore this city to some degree of cleanliness. We can only hope that can happen,” he stated.
Persaud said the fact that the relatively new trucks are already in a nonfunctional state would only reflect the state and readiness at the level of the Municipality of Georgetown with regards to coping with solid waste collection and disposal.
He further stated that in addition to their private vehicles, there are two private contractors that have contracts with the municipality of Georgetown to collect and dispose waste in certain wards.
“The city, although repeatedly engaging in these contracts, often finds itself unable to meet those commitments. The end result? Huge piles of garbage across the city,” he stated.
He added that the ministry has been engaging with those in the private sector who are already in the business of garbage collection and disposal and those who want to get involved in this kind of activity. “We’ve had successful meetings with these interest groups and we were able to receive from the Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines with regards to the management of landfill sites. We’ve shared those with the private individuals and companies and we’ve also identified the areas earmarked in each of the regions, excluding Region 4 because Region 4 already has Haags Bosch,” he said.
