Our environment
Editorial
With all our social and political problems Guyana remains a blessed country in some ways. It suffers from no hurricanes, unlike most of our island colleagues, no earthquakes, some flooding but not catastrophic as in other countries, including wealthy ones. There is some environmental pollution, the worst cases being some of the gold mining in our rivers in the interior and there was, of course, the Omai disaster. The bauxite industry at Linden is also a threat to the health of the residents. But our major rivers are still relatively unspoiled and our forests more or less intact. At this level, we are close to being an environmentalist's dream country. Our very lack of development has contributed to keeping our country in its pristine state. But then there is the disappointment, if not the disgrace, of our capital city. Bad drainage, some of the old canals filled in or left to their own devices, parapets unkempt, some streets in a hazardous condition and rubbish all over the place. The state of our capital city, and other inhabited areas, is a reproach to us all. What can be done about it? Perhaps we have to start in the schools as it is partly an attitude problem. People think nothing of throwing boxes out of bus windows and car windows, urinating in public and dumping rubbish on public parapets. The city has been defaced and this demeans all who live in it. It is our problem, not someone else's. A civics course in school could teach our youth to have respect for public property and for our environment generally and pride in our cities and villages. We should want them to look nice. It reflects well on all of us and living in pleasant surroundings would make our lives more enjoyable. The laws should also be changed to reflect a concern for our environment. For example, the maximum fine for littering and dumping rubbish should be higher than the present maximum of $l0,000, certainly in the case of repeat offenders. The magistrates, too, should not treat such offenders lightly as has happened more than once when they are apprehended by the city constables and brought before the courts and given mini fines. It makes an already thankless task even harder. Though the new Environmental Protection Agency is not directly responsible for keeping the city clean it could certainly help if as part of its general remit, and perhaps in cooperation with the ministry of education, it would undertake a programme of public information and education, stressing the importance of having a pleasant and unpolluted environment for our health and well being and indicating some of the things we can do, and not do, to contribute. This would help the hard pressed city council in its ongoing struggle and would be a good example of the kind of cooperation possible between municipal governments (city councils) and central government agencies. A well run programme could highlight the advantages of a clean and healthy environment and help to change attitudes.
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