Dumping of garbage in capital city needs to stop; Edghill disgusted

Garbage pile-up across the capital city of Georgetown continues to be an eyesore and Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, is “disgusted” by the sight.

The Minister said recently that works by the Ministry to enhance the look of the city continues to be “undone” by the continued dumping of garbage.

Something must be done to curtail the situation, he declared.

“I am disgusted by the state Georgetown is in right now,” Edghill said.

Pointing to one instance, the Minister explained that the Special Projects Unit lent support to the Mayor and City Council to clear a large amount of garbage that was dumped on Durey Lane in Campbellville.

A mere day after, the Minister said, garbage was dumped again.

The Minister singled out those business owners who would pay street dwellers to dispose of their garbage.

He pointed out that the business owners are fully aware that the street dwellers do not have the means to transport the garbage to the Haags Bosch Dumpsite at Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara and would still hire them anyway.

“You know fully well that the person cannot fetch that garbage to the dumpsite so he moving it somewhere else so whenever you engage such a person, you are contributing to the problem,” the Public Works Minister stressed.

“So he is either going to take it to some alleyway or some street to dump it.”

The Minister pointed out too that the mindset of Guyanese is not the same when travelling to other countries, making it appear as if there is no respect for Guyana.

“How is it that we can shift our mental position [on littering] the moment we get on a plane, but in Guyana, it seems as if we have a problem,” Minister Edghill lamented.

With Guyana’s rapid development and more persons coming into the country, Edghill said that it is imperative the country is showcased in a good light.

“I want to make a special appeal to all the citizens of Georgetown and all the users of the city of Georgetown who have been in the practice of dumping…we gotta start somewhere.”