Dear Editor,
Solid waste management remains the single most worrying challenge for the city. It is not confined to the limits of Georgetown; it is nation-wide. Even in the hinterland and the far-flung areas of this country there is a problem of improper disposal of waste. However, the focus continues to be on Georgetown because it is the capital of Guyana. Therefore, it is the duty of the council to continue to raise awareness on the issue and seek to encourage citizens to pay attention to the way they treat the environment.
It is public knowledge that the council spends almost $1 million a day to collect garbage from all areas of the city, prosecute litterbugs (over the last two weeks over 50 litterbugs were prosecuted), educate residents about the health of the environment through its environmental health and public relations divisions, and perpetually plead with citizens to avoid illegal dumping. Yet, the general appearance of the city embarrasses all of us, particularly those of us who work in the municipal system and have to face irate citizens, who are disgusted with the situation and call in ever so often, to tell us exactly how they feel about the council. Also, we too have to put up with it every time we step out of our homes to conduct our business or daily chores.
The psychological effect of it on our personal image, the way we see ourselves and the risk of certain diseases compel all of us to ask questions about this ever present problem. One such question is why after so many years, the municipality is still grappling with this solid waste problem.
It is clear to us, at City Hall, that there are certain dynamics that are contributing to this state of affairs. We wish to draw the attention of citizens to three of those factors affecting the council’s ability to effectively manage garbage in the city.
First, the municipality lacks the resources to improve its performance in this area. We do not have the money to pay our garbage contractors on time. This in turn affects their efficiency in our communities and generally impacts negatively on the provision of this core service to citizens.
Also, we do not have the manpower to police all sections of the city and to enforce compliance with the law. For some time now, the constabulary has been operating below strength. Add to that, inadequacies in communications equipment and mobility and the situation becomes clearer. Some time ago, the Mayor had introduced a Bicycle Squad but the lack of continuous training and money to replenish parts effectively ruptured the effectiveness of that initiative.
All citizens know that at City Hall the issue of money, or the lack of it, is linked to several other challenges, some of which are beyond the control of the council. These include various kinds of governmental permissions to implement certain revenue earners, including valuation of properties, which should be done every five years, (the last valuation was done in 1987) and increases in the costs of commodities used by the municipality to provide different services to citizens. Under our control, we need to improve the supervision of works, step up our internal financial control systems and go after those who are neglecting to pay their taxes.
Some individuals have been suggesting that the council might be overstaffed. However, our employment records show a different set of realities. Many departments and sections of the municipality are working below strength. Our Maternal and Child Welfare section, which provides post-natal and ante-natal care to mothers in local communities has 8 nurses/midwives; it needs about twenty to provide an adequate service. The city constabulary needs over 50 able-bodied men and women to sign up for service to the city. The environmental health inspectorate has 8 qualified environmental health officers to visit and inspect residences, common lodging houses, hairdressing salons, schools and a number of other public places. It budgeted for 25 qualified environmental health officers.
Given the character and scope of our responsibilities, we are of the view that the council is not over-staffed but seriously underfinanced. Perhaps there is need to reorganize and rationalize staff to allow the municipality to be more responsive to the needs of the city, but the council is short of staff.
In addition, the council’s workforce continues to be depleted through attrition. Except for critical services, such as sluice attendants, the municipality has not been filling vacancies. This is a deliberate decision of the council.
Also, there is the thinking that the council is spending too much on private garbage contractors. Last year, the council spent over 168M in garbage collection. So far for this year, it has spent about $48M in collection. Some have suggested that the council should attempt to procure its own fleet of collection vehicles. Not a bad thought but the effectiveness of that arrangement would depend on other support systems. These include a well-equipped mechanical workshop, stores, and a team of technical personnel appropriately trained to deal with new and advanced technologies used on such vehicles to make them more efficient. At the moment, council is woefully short on such skills, does not have a store for spares and needs tools and equipment to upgrade its simple workshop in Princes Street. Again, these require money, the lack of which has the council exactly where it is today.
In any case, we have been trying to do our own collection in two areas but it is not working as was envisaged by the council. The point to note here is that even if the council were to ignore all the current risks and collect the city’s garbage on its own, it would not necessarily be cheaper; in fact, the opposite could be true.
Second, there appears to be a correlation between the number of accumulations of garbage on our parapets and the operation of the landfill site at Haags Bosch, at Eccles, East Bank Demerara.
In the past, the council operated a landfill site in a portion of Le Repentir Cemetery. It was open 24 hours every day of every week for 17 years. It accepted garbage from all citizens and businesses.
However, the situation at the new landfill site is very different. It is 4 miles from Georgetown. This coupled with the fact that the East Bank Road is one of our busier roadways affects the turnaround time for collection vehicles. Then, too, the site operates Mondays to Saturdays from 7:00hrs to 17:00hrs and on Sundays and Holidays from 8:00hrs to 13:00hrs. Also, the authorities there do not permit horse-drawn carts to enter the site to dispose of waste.
This encourages the undesirable situation of garbage being left in collection trucks overnight, garbage not collected from households after a certain time and illegal dumping by some citizens. Generally, it retards the efficient collection of garbage from local communities. At the end of the collection period, an average of about 35% of the total amount of garbage remains uncollected. This gap between what is collected and what is left in local communities encourages others to indulge in illegal dumping on parapets and other thoroughfares. Moreover, it signals the need for an appropriate holding facility for garbage at a strategic location in the city. At that facility, the council can encourage those who use modes of transportation unacceptable to Haags Bosch, to bring their garbage. This can then be sorted, packaged and transported to the landfill site by council.
Third, the transition from the landfill site in Le Repentir to the one at Haags Bosch was not accompanied by the necessary public education programme. That aspect of the IDB arrangement did not materialize. We are not sure why that happened. The council did not and still does not have the money to do an aggressive and sustained public education programme on garbage collection and disposal, and the health of the environment.
As a result, some citizens still lack information, knowledge and empowerment to take a positive view of the environment. Many are still ignorant of the consequences and far-reaching effects of their poor environmental habits. Notwithstanding that, we believe that with assistance from our friends in the media we can do a bit more to inform the public. It has not escaped our attention that in most media reports, the council is usually heavily criticized for the existing situation. We are not surprised or offended because this is as it should be. Garbage is the city’s responsibility. Nevertheless, we are sometimes disappointed that, some of our reporters do not see the need to hold citizens responsible for their actions towards the environment.
Our challenge is not to clean the city but to keep it clean. It is at this point, the media could help raise public awareness and encourage citizens to take responsibility for their surroundings. Keeping the city clean could not be the responsibility of the council alone; everyone must become involved. At times, we feel that the push by some media outfits to report our known inefficiencies without highlighting the unfriendly environmental practices by some corporate and other citizens is unfair. It does not help to advance the well-being of the capital. It is true that the press must hold authorities accountable to the people. It is equally true that the media could play a role to discourage citizens from indulging in actions that are inimical to the development of society. Poor garbage disposal practices are inimical to our city and the wider society.
So, the lack of money and other resources, lack of governmental permission to implement revenue earners, the operations of the new landfill site, lack of an effective and sustained public education programme, and the need for more assistance from the media all combine to perpetuate an embarrassing garbage crisis that remains a blight on the city. It is eroding public trust and confidence, affecting the image of the city locally and internationally, discouraging investments in Georgetown and constraining the prosperity of the city. We all need to find practical ways to work together to confront it head on before it spirals more out of control and consumes our entire nation.
We close with the words of one of our national songs, The Song Of Guyana’s Children, by W Hawley-Bryants “Onward, upward, may we ever go/ Day by day in strength and beauty grow/ Till at length we each of us may show/ What Guyana’s sons and daughters can be.”
Yours faithfully,
Royston King
Public Relations Officer
Mayor and City Councillors
