GM&CC again clears up recurring Vlissengen Road garbage pile up

…As St Sidwell’s church moves to turn area into green space

After recent complaints were once again made about the triangular area situated at Vlissengen Road, Georgetown, opposite St Sidwell’s Primary School, which has apparently turned into a small dump site, the Georgetown City Council successfully cleaned the area to creating a well-maintained space for pedestrians.
This information was relayed by Reginald Brotherson, Priest Warden of St Sidwell’s, in a recent interview with this publication.

According to Brotherson, the clean-up was completed Saturday.
“Actually, on Saturday, I passed by and saw that the City Council was clearing the spot. They cleared the area,” Brotherson said.
Amidst this, he suggested that the bush surrounding the area should also be removed, as it increases the likelihood of people returning to dump trash.
“But the bush, they just moved the rubbish. So, that’s the problem. The place looks more clear, but as most persons may know, our church has an anniversary coming up, and we have a subcommittee to look at how best we can improve the area,” he added.
Meanwhile, Brotherson shared that a great initiative being led by St Sidwell’s Church is to renovate the triangle spot, where debris was previously dumped into a green space.
“We’re reaching out to potential partners for sponsorship. We want to create a safe space, and I have this idea of seeking funding to transform the area. It’s the intent of the church. During our last committee meeting, we agreed that the subcommittee should begin looking into the project. We hope to have it completed by October,” he said.
On March 18, Guyana Times had reported that the Director of Solid Waste Management at the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (GM&CC) stated that steps would be taken to resolve the issue within a week.
In an interview with this publication, Director Walter Narine, had explained that the delay in removing the garbage and debris was due to several beehives in the area. This led to workers being injured and rushed to the hospital for medical assistance.
“I don’t understand why people are doing this. They come with horse carts and dump garbage—someone is doing this. The problem is that I’m unsure how many hives are there, so we need to examine the area, create an invoice, and try to get this resolved within the next week,” he had said.
Brotherson had also explained then that this had been a persistent problem for some time. He noted that individuals were disposing of waste in the early hours of the morning, creating an unsightly mess near the church and the nearby school.
Nearby the debris, there is also a triangular area of land covered with bushes, where additional debris is accumulating.
Brotherson had suggested that a fence should be installed around the area. “It would be an excellent project if some organisation or the Government could just fence this triangle with a small picket fence and beautify it. This could be a place where the children could have recreation,” he suggested.