Dear Editor,
We at City Hall welcome an advertisement by the Guyana Consumers Assoc-iation on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in your newspaper issue of Sunday November 25, 2007.
In that advertisement, the association suggested a number of actions for companies to improve their social responsibility status.
However, our attention was attracted to the one on keeping the environment clean because we believe that there is a correlation between economic development and environmental health. Therefore, all organizations and corporations have responsibility to work towards sustainable development. However, it was Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who said that corporations have no responsibility to society that goes beyond adhering to the law and maximizing profits for shareholders. Notwithstanding that, Friedman never suggested that charitable giving should be reduced if it contributes to profit-making. Being perceived as socially responsible can be an element in attracting future profitability. Really CSR encompasses economic, legal, ethical, environmental, and philanthropic responsibilities. Economic responsibilities provide the foundation for all the others. A corporation has a responsibility to be profitable. It must obey the laws and be ethical by being fair and avoiding harm. It must respect and regard the environment, the way it conducts its business and disposes of its waste. A corporation must be a good corporate citizen by contributing resources to the community and improving the quality of life.
For us, the single most worrying problem is the apparent culture of littering. Our solid waste management department is fully stretched. Over 260 tonnes of garbage (a substantial amount is non biodegradable) is collected and disposed of on a daily basis. However, numerous accumulations have to be taken up from the roadsides, parapets and out of our canals. Despite our diverting scarce financial and other resources to put skips in convenient locations, in different sections, some citizens appear to be very satisfied with themselves to throw their stuff anywhere other than in these receptacles. It’s a real shame that this situation persists in circumstances where we are spending more than one million dollars a day to keep the city clean.
Everyone can see that much of the litter in and around the city is comprised of wrappings, empty food boxes, plastic, empty fuzzy drinks cans. Sadly, many of these throwaways carry the name of certain corporate brands. Many of these brands represent strong corporate values like community building, good corporate governance, responsibility, trust, and accountability. But the unfriendly environmental actions of the patrons of the companies are compromising their values. Imagine the damage done to the reputation of these businesses when boxes and other packaging materials carrying their popular brands are seen littering the streets and clogging the drains of this capital city. This abundance of litter is responsible for overtopping in many areas whenever there is a heavy
downpour of rain.
Further, many of these corporations are engaged in giving donations to communities. But some of these very communities suffer from the improper disposal of the packaging materials of these companies. In the end, all that a corporation stands for can disappear in this environmental mess up especially if it is perceived that such companies are doing nothing to help the situation. It is not only commercial enterprises and corporations that are contributing to the mess in the city but other entities. We have talk about the sludge which flows from GWI into the Vlissengen Road canal. This is restricting the flow of water and consequently affecting drainage of that and contiguous areas. We have had reports of septic tank cleaners emptying in some of our waterways. We have been dealing with businesses with mechanical workshops on our parapets; the waste oil from these is dumped into our streets and other drains. These have all kinds of effects on the environment. It is in this same environment that the employees, the shareholders, the patrons and other stakeholders of these corporations live. If companies damage it then all would be affected and businesses would not be able to survive.
Clearly then corporations, organizations and entities need to work harder with the municipality to reverse this unhealthy practice of littering and improper waste disposal. We are aware that some will say that it is the job of the council to keep the city clean. But the city could not do it alone. There is need for a stronger partnership between the city government and all stakeholders to pull back this city from this terrible embarrassment. Moreover, CSR is about going beyond compliance with the law; it is taking a lead role in helping to improve the quality of life in local communities.
One way in which corporations and other entities can help is by formulating proper policies on the disposal of waste generated by their business activities. In as much as companies have standards for accounting, recruiting, and employees’ benefits they should also have well articulated standards on solid waste management and environmental management. This is fundamental and should be a main component of their corporate plan. This is especially crucial in light of the frightening reality of climate change. Once this is done then it is easy to do the other things including budgeting for an adequate number of bins on their premises for their patrons to properly dispose of their wrappings and other litter; printing messages to encourage customers to treat the environment with respect on food boxes and drinks cans; donate to community groups in areas where they operate to clean up their surroundings.
Again, in an age of instant information, a sensitized public and a growing cynicism about business it is no longer adequate for corporation to stand aloof from the difficulties we face as a city. They must be part of our collective effort to find solutions. Also, when businesses ignore development issues opportunity for growth and profit-making narrow and corporate liability increases. Therefore, we need to find innovative ways to sustain and develop our environment.
Yours faithfully,
Royston King
Public Relations Officer
Mayor and City Council