– in new initiative to target single mothers, unemployed women
The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) plans to roll out a programme that will teach women to recycle plastic waste into mats, bags and other accessories, and encourage them to become entrepreneurs.
Director of Solid Waste Management at the Georgetown municipality, Walter Narine holding a mat made out of plastic bags during a recent demonstration exercise
This initiative is one that will target single mothers, unemployed women, and women in general living in the city of Georgetown and surrounding communities.
M&CC Solid Waste Management Director Walter Narine told Guyana Times in a recent interview that the plan was to take the matter for debate at the Council to get final approval.
“Our hope at the municipality is that we have young single-parent mothers who are out of a job, we bring them in and teach them the technique. We will get the waste bags and have them serialised and give it to them, so they can make some money out of it,” he explained.
Narine said a demonstration was held at a recent health fair at the M&CC compound, and persons were impressed with the plans the Council has in place to assist unemployed women.
He said once approval was granted, he would take the idea to the Social Protection Ministry so that it could help to identify women in various communities in the city who could benefit from the initiative.
The M&CC official said Guyana was still struggling to find efficient ways of managing its waste problem and initiatives like this would help women find ways to earn an income and provide for their families.
Another initiative that will be launched soon by the M&CC is a composting drive that will see some 28 primary schools across the city involved in recycling several waste products.
Narine told this publication that the objective of this initiative was to teach people, especially youths, how to make use of organic fertilisers using the composting mechanism.
He lamented that too often cooked food, fruits and vegetables waste were found around the city, explaining that these same items could be recycled into organic fertilisers.
“Placing food waste into a composting drum with some amount of moisture helps to break down the waste, and it will turn to soil or organic fertiliser which is highly rich in nutrients,” he explained.
According to him, with this new initiative, importation of fertilisers could be reduced if more people become involved in this programme and produce fertilisers on a wide scale.
In many countries, particularly in Africa, waste-to-wealth programmes have been initiated to help create wealth, employment and help stimulate national consciousness of the power of science and technology.
Narine said both initiatives have the potential to create hundreds of jobs, but would require the collective effort of the M&CC and various Government Ministries to implement and maintain them.
He said they would not only help the State maintain a clean environment and a healthy citizenry, but also reduce waste in the landfills and create wealth among women.
They also have the potential to create a huge leap for wealth creation and environmental health in Guyana, as the authorities move from traditional landfill disposal to modes of waste management that are economically rewarding and socially responsible.
