Dear Editor,
On Thursday September 30, 2017 as I travelled along Vlissengen Road in a taxi, I noticed a dead dog bloated on the parapet alongside Camp Ayanganna and in the vicinity of David and Pike Streets, Kitty.
I immediately called a friend who previously worked with the Georgetown City Council for a number for the Cleansing Department. I called from my cell phone and I was given a number (226-1668) which I called and was referred to the Solid Waste Department on Princes Street, Werk-en-Rust.
My next call was to the Solid Waste Department and was given a number (223-5128). This number rang out. I then called the first number (226-1668) again and asked whether this was the only number. I was then given 223-5127-9 which is what I should have been given on the first call.
At every call I indicated that the urgent nature of the business was to remove a dead dog before decomposition stepped in. No one seemed moved by what I was reporting.
I called 223-5127 and was asked to call 223-7894. I quickly asked was I not onto the Department responsible for removing dead animals from our city streets? The response was yes, but I must speak to the person directly responsible. The person answering this number took my report and said she had to discuss it with the Director?
On my way home the same afternoon, I purposely passed that way again to check whether the dog was removed. Lo and behold it was lying in the same place. With the heat of the sun it looked as though it was about to burst at any time. The next day I passed. The animal was now burst and the decomposed/decaying body on the parapet with the stench following enough distance for any and every passerby to hold their nostrils. Because apparently each person I spoke with passed me to the next, and to the next person, no action was taken.
Had action been taken the public would have been spared the stench and one civic minded citizen would have been able to congratulate and encourage a service to the community, feel proud that Guyanese are a responsible people and that the Solid Waste Department in our country works.
In the past, in the 1980s and 1990s I have been the beneficiary of satisfactory service from the M&CC Cleansing Department. One could always report such cases and sure enough before the end of the day, the dead animals were removed. Why? Because the Cleansing department had a vehicle whose job was to drive through the city looking for dead animals. A phone call would help them get to any spot quickly. Please, can this service be reintroduced to help keep our city clean and restore Georgetown to its former cleanliness and beauty?
To prevent the caller from having to make these many calls one of the several persons I spoke with, could have taken responsibility and said: “Madam, this type of report is not handled by my desk but you are onto the said office, I will ensure the report is passed on to the relevant officer and rest assured it will be addressed.” Instead I ended all my calls not knowing whether either of the persons I spoke with intended to address my report. The dead dog obviously had to wait.
Yours faithfully,
Maria Rodrigues
