The Mayor and City Council yesterday held the first of several planned public consultations with various stakeholders, including members of the business community, to discuss keeping Georgetown clean.
Mayor Hamilton Green said he was seeking the optimum cooperation of all those present in returning Georgetown to being worthy of the title Garden City. He encouraged attendees to share their ideas and suggestions as well as the successes and challenges they have faced.
Ranwell Jordan, former mayor and present chair of the Market and Public Health Committee of the Council, called for citizens to view this clean-up campaign as “a new beginning in doing what is our right, our duty, our responsibility. Everything we do will call for discipline; will call for special attention.” He noted that each person’s presence showed “their interest in recovering the city of Georgetown.”
He spoke of his community clearing drains but since the main drainage canal was not cleared they were back to square one as roads that have never flooded before, such as Brutus Street in Agricola, flooded after last Sunday’s downpour.
He stressed that the gathering must be informed of what assistance is necessary in each community so that when self-help work is done they will be rewarded with a truly clean neighbourhood.
Community leaders said they were happy with the large number of persons, particularly youth, who have volunteered to be part of the clean-up efforts. The Mayor noted what he called “massive displays of patriotism from some business people since the swearing in of the new president.”
Several community leaders, however, spoke of the difficulty they have been facing with securing adequate and appropriate tools for the clearing of drains and parapets and especially the securing of trucks for the transportation of collected garbage to the Haags Bosch disposal site.
In an attempt to address this issue, Scotia Bank Marketing Manager Jennifer Cipriani donated several tools to the clean-up effort while BK International once again promised to make trucks available to those communities engaged in cleaning.
Richard Taylor, of the Festival City Youth and Parent Organisation, spoke of all the projects they have been able to realise since their formation in 2012, such as the building of a community centre with the assistance of Habitat for Humanity and continuous clean-up efforts.
He, however, mentioned that maintaining a clean community is difficult and asked that local businesses be more active in providing incentives to citizens, such as stipends to citizens who collect a certain number of plastic bottles or other waste generated from the use of the companies’ products.
Other participants shared their frustrations with the difficulty in maintaining a clean environment when persons continue to litter. One participant called for a change in the littering culture of Guyana with “a carrot and stick method” being used to ensure these changes are made permanent.
Several of those present called for a change in the city’s campaign slogan. Instead of ‘Pick it Up,’ they said, citizens should be told not to drop it. Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green agreed, saying that to her a ‘Pick it Up’ campaign has always suggested that when you drop it, someone else is there to pick it up. She stressed that there needs to be a ‘Don’t drop it’ campaign.
Indranauth Haralsingh, Director of Guyana Tourism Authority, spoke of his agency’s satisfaction with the current administration’s efforts to have citizens take ownership of their communities and the problem of littering. He noted that the GTA is on board with these efforts, which are most helpful in creating a suitable tourism product especially in light of the fact that city tours are offered every week. He reminded that last year during tourism awareness week the GTA with support from other businesses in the area embarked on a clean-up of South Road and committed to the adoption of four intersections on the busy street, promising to turn these “eye-sore corners into spots of beautification” while continuing to clean, paint and maintain several bridges in the city.
Divya Sieudarsan of Gizmos and Gadget and a representative from Courts Guyana spoke of their companies’ recent clean-up campaigns and shared their commitment to continue supporting the council’s initiatives. They also called for other companies to get on board and sponsor sections of the city or place bins around the city to assist in efforts to maintain a tidy environment.
