Solid Waste Department cleans several sections of Georgetown

A team from the Solid Waste Department headed by the Director, Walter Narine, on Friday and Sunday carried out massive cleanup campaigns in several sections of Georgetown including the Kitty and East Ruimveldt Market area along with the Cowan Street area.
The cleanup exercise on the Kitty Market took approximately 45 minutes while the East Ruimveldt and Cowan Street areas took approximately 3 ½ hours to be completely cleared.
The areas had to be cleared since disposal bins placed at each point are reportedly not being properly utilised.
According to Narine, the Solid Waste Department is presently low on resources to have the areas policed daily and as such, the garbage disposal issue is one that is frequent.
However, his department is now looking to partner with vendors and residents to police the areas and report any delinquency.
The residents and vendors were reportedly asked to take photos and videos in cases where persons are caught delinquently dumping garbage and charges are expected to be instituted. Persons can even be fined.
In the Tiger Bay area, which was also recently cleared, Narine said that all bins were removed since garbage disposal at the area is out of control. However, that area is presently being monitored.
An illegal dumpsite located in central Georgetown was also recently cleared and is also being policed.
Just recently, persons were forewarned of prosecution if found to be illegally dumping.
Narine had made the disclosure following a cleanup campaign behind the Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry (GBTI), Water Street, Georgetown, location— which is home to the John Fernandes Container Wharf.
The exercise, which lasted two hours, saw excavators from the Solid Waste Department, along with a bobcat provided by John Fernandes, being used to remove the garbage which was reportedly dumped by vendors and vagrants.
According to Narine, the department is seeking to regulate the area beginning with the clean-up. However, the area is now expected to be monitored by constabulary officers and anyone caught dumping waste will be arrested and prosecuted.
The garbage at the John Fernandes Container Wharf had piled up over a one-week period, despite receptacles being placed at the location.
Narine told this publication that persons are not using the receptacles but are clearly just dumping the garbage.
He is appealing to the vendors to properly dispose of their waste and forewarned that action will be taken.
“We are appealing to everybody to have at least a receptacle, vendors they are the major problem because many of them do not have receptacles, they have plastic bags and so but in the interim, this is our challenge. This is madness, garbage decomposes within a four-hour period, then you have the leaches, it has a lot of dangerous effects on humans and animals,” Narine cautioned.