Solid waste bill for National Assembly soon – Persaud

Minister of Local Government Ganga Persaud yesterday announced that the Solid Waste Management Bill will soon be brought to the National Assembly.

The bill seeks to establish a single authority at the national level that will enforce, make polices and decisions, and review and analyse the entire solid waste management systems in the country.

“We have listened to calls emanating from various sections of society and through the help of the Attorney General been able to get this document to that stage now where we can seek to take to take it to the final stages and bring it into law,” Persaud told a news conference yesterday.

According to the minister, the recent flooding in Georgetown has renewed interest with regards to solid waste and the management of solid waste and for the development of a solid waste policy.

Persaud informed that the bill went to cabinet and after several comments were made it was returned to the Attorney General for the necessary revision and modifications.

The minister further added that earlier this week, he received the bill and after having reviewed it, he has sent off copies of the bill to the Shadow Minister of Local Government Ronald Bulkan, Opposition leader David Granger and AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan.

“I have requested that these gentlemen read and analyse the bill and to offer me their comments and guidance so that we can work together so that when the bill reaches the National Assembly we can have little or no difficulty in terms of understanding the content,” he noted.

Last month, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Roger Luncheon at a press conference had said that the bill will be tabled in the National Assembly before the end of the year to provide for monitoring of all solid waste practices in Guyana.