Keep your surroundings, drains clean – Minister Harmon

…clean-up exercise commences at Albouystown

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, and a team of representatives from the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and the Mayor and City Council (MCC) on Saturday paid a follow-up visit to Albouystown, in the southern wards of Georgetown, to commence sanitation works aimed at enhancing residents’ quality of life and reducing the risk of flooding.
The clean-up exercise is being spearheaded by the CDC, in collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the private sector, and residents.
Minister Harmon applauded the residents for their cooperation, noting that they have made significant progress since the exercise started early Saturday morning.
In his charge to residents assembled at the junction of Hill and James streets, Minister Harmon encouraged them to continue to support the exercise, even as he reminded them that it is every individual’s responsibility to keep their surroundings clean.
“We want to encourage all communities to come together and clean up their environment. Ultimately, it is you in the community that will be affected when it is not clean,” he reminded.
The minister also said the CDC would be donating some equipment to the community so that cleaning exercises can be conducted regularly, in order to maintain a clean and healthy environment.
“The Civil Defence Commission will be leaving some equipment here in the community so that you can also continue to do this. It is not just a one-off exercise, and you have to keep doing that all the time,” he advised.
,Director General (Ag) of the CDC, Lieutenant-Colonel Kester Craig, said that while the minister and the team were distributing cleaning hampers to flood-affected residents in the community last week, they soon realised that there was an emerging garbage crisis, and quickly mobilised efforts to enhance general sanitation there.
Lieutenant-Colonel Craig said the CDC has provided trucks to transport all the garbage to the dumpsite, as well as a range of necessary equipment, including shovels and spades, to assist in executing the works.
“This is a community-based initiative and we want to ensure that this doesn’t happen only in Albouystown, but other communities would come on board and help clean up their environment. The approach is more in keeping with the Civil Defence Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy, and what we’re doing here is reducing the risk with the work being done,” he said.
A total of six blocks, 13 canals and alleyways are scheduled to be cleaned today. Three blocks have already been cleared, and the other nine blocks will be completed during the course of the month.