Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud said government plans to make changes to the environmental regulations to appoint wardens to tackle littering, when he kicked-off a community clean-up exercise on Saturday in several city wards.
In a press release, the ministry said Persaud, Permanent Secretary Joslyn McKenzie, Chairman of the East La Penitence Community Delroy Carrington and members of the Grove/Diamond Progres-sive Youth Organisation joined volunteers in several areas in the city to start the first of two days of clean-up exercises planned under the ‘Pick it up Guyana’ campaign.
US Ambassador Brent Hardt who participated in the East La Penitence Commu-nity Development Group’s clean-up exercise, welcomed the initiative the community had taken to establish a healthy environment. He noted that the objective is to generate community responsibility, get people involved and support the campaign. The ambassador also encouraged more communities to get on board and get involved in cleaning up Guyana.
At East La Penitence, Carrington said the campaign’s goal is to motivate residents to start clean-up and enhancement exercises in their areas.
According to Persaud, “the campaign is not about picking up other people’s garbage, but it’s more strategic and focused on changing the mind set of our society.” The ministry will also engage the Ministry of Local Govern-ment and Regional Develop-ment and the Mayor and City Council in this effort and urges private sector, religious organizations, trade unions, youth and other groups to get involved.
Persaud noted that Guyana again advocated for sustainable development, protecting the forest and environment at the recently held Rio+20 Summit held in Brazil, “As such, Guyana must be a place reflective of its policies and other aspect of development and consistent in managing our natural resources.”
The ministry said the campaign continues to receive positive responses about the promotion. It noted that volunteers and community groups, religious and political organizations are coming forward to support its efforts. Persons or groups interested in getting involved are can visit the ministry’s website www.nre.gov.gy or call telephone numbers 227-0343 or 227-0346 for more information.
