No garbage bins
-- 22 charged
Guyana Chronicle
February 3, 2007
TWENTY two persons from the Lacytown ward are to be prosecuted because they had no refuse bins and their yards were dirty, a City Council official reported yesterday.
The charges come after day one of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s anti-litter campaign launched Thursday under the theme ‘Stop trashing Georgetown…You can make a difference”. It is aimed at addressing poor garbage disposal habits of some residents in Lacytown.
City Council Public Relations Officer, Mr. Royston King yesterday told the Guyana Chronicle the exercise has been progressing and the objective being obtained.
He said among those to be prosecuted are businesses, including Neisha’s Flowers of 81 Camp Street, Shoppers Drug Mart of 118-119 Regent Street, Happy Welcome Restaurant of 55 Robb Street, and Cell Point of 248 Bourda Street and North Road.
King said an additional sixty-five persons were given notices for the same offence.
The council, in a press release, said it was alarmed at the state of some yards and buildings in the city.
Some of these, it said, are extremely dirty with accumulations of waste, old wood, overgrowth and undergrowth.
According to the council, some buildings have dilapidated windows, doors, stairways and even the basic sanitary facilities were unusable.
It added that these buildings can be used as seclusion zones by criminal elements and vagrants and urged the owners to take full responsibility for them.
The council said the Solid Waste Management Department collects garbage six times weekly from 283 commercial places and 330 households in Lacytown and disposes of 678 tons per month, usually at a cost of $7M annually.
King said the campaign will continue in the Lacytown ward for three weeks before moving to Bourda, Stabroek, North East La Penitence and North Ruimveldt.
He said community development groups are encouraged to mobilize persons to ensure their immediate surroundings and communities are cleaned.
Schools, religious organizations, youth clubs and other groups are also urged to talk to their members about the importance of a clean and healthy environment, he added.
Although the City Council has always had an anti-litter campaign, the current operation is more intense because of Cricket World Cup 2007, he said.
However, Mayor Mr. Hamilton Green has urged that the campaign be sustained beyond the mega event.