Dear Editor,
The Mayor and City Council have expressed serious concerns over certain statements reported in the Stabroek News issue of April 20, 2012, under the heading, ‘Guyana posed contradiction at tourism conference: Garbage and pristine forests.’ A section of the report ran as follows:
“For his part, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Indranauth Haralsingh admitted that marketing Guyana and in particular Georgetown is a tough job when prospective tourists ask about the garbage situation. ‘For me, I would not be able to tell them anything. It’s there, the evidence is there and when people look at the city – a dirty city reflects a dirty mind, it reflects on all of us,’ he said.
“While Guyanese have an individual responsibility to avoid littering, the GTA boss blamed the Georgetown Municipality for largely failing to scrub the city of garbage before and during STC-13 [Sustainable Tourism Conference] which started on Sunday and ended on Wednesday.
“‘There were a lot of good efforts to tidy up the city but I don’t think the city council was very willing to participate in this clean-up campaign,” he told Stabroek News.
“The GTA plans to work with other partners to clean up the city and embark on education and awareness.
“An executive from The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) said that they have complained bitterly about the condition of Georgetown. ‘We continue to complain about the garbage issue because everyone knows it’s a problem but we can’t come out and say to tourists; look we are sorry for what you see we [are] just a damn nasty people.”
If the report is accurate those statements attributed to the director are very unfortunate for the following reasons:
1. The Ministry of Tourism appointed a coordinating committee headed by Mr Natram of Natram and Sons to coordinate the clean-up exercise of the city. Neither the city’s administration nor its technical staff was invited to any meeting to discuss the task of the committee in relation to enhancement works for the 13th Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Conference. The office of the Deputy Mayor received a call from the ministry on Friday, March 30, at about 14:17hrs to attend a conference on April 2, at the Ministry of Tourism. However, the Deputy Mayor had made several appointments for that day as she had no prior knowledge of that conference. As a result, she could not attend the meeting. Notwithstanding, she had asked her secretary to attend and brief her on the issues discussed at that session.
2. A number of other stakeholders including members of the private sector indicated their willingness to contribute to the clean-up. However, the council is not aware that those promised contributions materialized.
3. Subsequently, council received a document prepared by Mr Rawle Edinboro, Chief Town Planner of Central Housing and Planning Authority – ‘A strategy for short-term environmental enhancement in Georgetown in preparation for Guyana’s hosting of the Caribbean sustainable tourism conference,’ on works to be done in several parts of the city. Based on that, the City Engineer crafted a programme of works for the council. It included:- Bourda Market – weeding and clearing parapets, cleaning and clearing drains, cleaning and clearing garbage; City Hall Compound – weeding and clearing parapets, cleaning and clearing drains, cleaning and clearing garbage and whitewashing trees and painting fence; Non-aligned Monument – weeding and clearing parapets, cleaning and clearing drains, cleaning and clearing garbage and whitewashing trees; National Museum – weeding and clearing parapets, cleaning and clearing drains, cleaning and clearing garbage; National Library – weeding and clearing parapets , cleaning and clearing drains, cleaning and clearing garbage; Seawall Bandstand – weeding and clearing parapets, cleaning and clearing drains, cleaning and clearing garbage; all Avenues – weeding and clearing parapets, cleaning and clearing drains, cleaning and clearing garbage.
4. The City Engineer’s Department carried out most of the activities it had identified in its programme of works.
5. Subsequently, Mr Natram sent a document to the Town Clerk on proposed works to enhance the city. Nothing happened after that. Further, he had undertaken to provide trucks and loading equipment. Also, he had agreed to assist in cleaning up around the Bourda Market area. He only delivered on one truck for about 2 hrs. Nothing else was done as promised by the coordinator.
It is clear, the coordinating committee that was appointed by the ministry underperformed but, as usual, the municipality gets the blame for it.
In the past, a special events committee at Office of the President with representatives from all relevant agencies, organisations, groups and individuals managed such enhancement projects. There were regular progress reports on the different activities of the project. However, that did not happen for the last Tourism conference. As a result, there was inadequate and inefficient communication among the concerned agencies and tasks were not properly coordinated by the committee.
Yet it remains the council’s responsibility to provide garbage disposal for all areas of the city. As a result, the municipality has an ongoing collection programme in every section of the city. It goes beyond international conferences and seminars. Council believes that all Guyanese deserve a clean and tidy city. Council also believes that all Guyanese have a part to play in assisting the council to maintain the health and wellbeing of local communities and the city as a whole. It has never been easy but the municipality continues to do its best in harsh circumstances.
Garbage and rubbish do not appear on city parapets and roadsides out of thin air. People shamelessly throw it there, apparently without any thought about the consequences of their actions. More, such negative and embarrassing attitudes on the part of some citizens, impact on the council’s already very limited resources.
The city treasury pays about $2M per month to clear parapet and roadside waste, particularly in central Georgetown. In addition, the council expends $12M per month to haul waste from households and businesses in local communities. In this year’s budget, solid waste management accounts for 16% of the total expenditure for the Mayor and City Council.
It must be noted that the council has responsibility to provide a host of other critical services including maternal and child welfare, day care, public health services, law enforcement, roads, drainage, sluices, parks and open spaces, markets and vector control. Council has to do all of that with a shallow treasury.
But the municipality is facing the challenge of keeping the city clean; not cleaning the city. Many businesses and home-owners appear to be ignoring the pleas and reasoning of the city to stop indulging in the indiscriminate dumping of garbage on parapets, pavements and other thoroughfares. The council cannot be blamed for the unfriendly environmental attitudes of some citizens, who refuse to utlise the council’s waste collection systems and believe that garbage disposal does not warrant their attention or effort. It is a shame that the disposal habits of some citizens are not compatible with the push for development and prosperity in Guyana.
Council has said in previous communications that the problem of litter and improper disposal is a symptom of a wider problem; it is the lack of positive civic attitude on the part of some citizens.
In the end, the city gets the blame. But it is unfair for anyone to hold the municipality accountable for the attitude and behaviour of citizens towards the environment, particularly in circumstances where, in spite of its very narrow revenue base, its officers are trying their utmost. Perhaps the municipality needs to do more in the area of law enforcement to arrest and prosecute those litter bugs. But the process to prosecute those litter bugs is so cumbersome that it blunts the effort of the authority. This is the reason why, some time ago, the council had asked for a municipal court to deal with council matters with dispatch.
Notwithstanding that, citizens must begin to see the physical condition of their local communities as a personal responsibility. This is exactly what the council was trying to do when it encouraged residents in different areas to organise themselves into community development groups and work together to improve conditions in their local communities.
Yours faithfully,
Royston King
Public Relations Officer
Mayor & City Council
