Mayor of Georgetown Hamilton Green says collection and disposal of plastic waste in the City costs the Council $100M every quarter – about half of the total clean-up bill for the period, and to deal adequately with it will require some of the Government-collected Environmental Tax.
He said too that Guyana is yet to see a clear Government policy on the use of plastic bottles and said that previous efforts have fallen to the wayside.
In terms of solutions, the Mayor said that banning of the non-biodegradable materials is one option, but he feels that this would be a retrograde step and urged that there be development of biodegradable material which could carry out the same functions.
And the Minister of Agriculture has spoken out against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a lack of aggression in taking action on the plastic waste build up.
The EPA in a press release in May said that the improper disposal and treatment of garbage waste presented one of the gravest concerns facing Guyana and addressing it must involve all stakeholders.
It said that to mitigate this problem, efficient means of recycling or reusing plastic bottles and other materials must be found. The EPA encouraged the establishment of appropriate and innovative waste disposal mechanisms and proper waste disposal practices.
Speaking in an interview with this newspaper, Mayor Green said that for the City to clean up the mess caused by plastic (PET) bottles, it should be given at least 25 per cent of the Environmental Tax that the Government collects per bottle imported or manufactured. “If the Government collects an Environmental Tax they are morally bound to share it with us – at least 25 per cent of it,” said Mayor Green.
He said that despite numerous requests, the Government refuses to budge. He said that their efforts seem to go towards micromanaging and departing from democratic systems. “We haven’t been able to get a single of our proposals approved to broaden our revenue base,” he said, of the Government’s rejection of new ideas.
“We have been speaking against the use of Styrofoam food boxes and plastic bottles because of their non-biodegradable nature.
“These items create environmental problems, they block drains, they block the grill at culverts,” said the Mayor.
“It costs the Council substantial funds for the collection and storage of these wastes,” he said, adding that drug addicts and road dwellers would scavenge among garbage areas for food boxes and such like, compounding the City’s woes.
The Mayor said that the M&CC had been involved in the plastics solutions committee along with Banks DIH Limited, Demerara Distillers Limited, the EPA and other stakeholders, but nothing ever materialised. Officials from Banks DIH Limited and DDL couldn’t be reached by this newspaper for comment.
He noted that there have been unsuccessful attempts at starting up a recycling plant in the country to help deal with the plastic waste problem. He also stated that the cardboard recycling that Caribbean Container Inc does is a great help towards removing such waste from the City.
He added that attitudes have to change if the problem is to be stemmed and blames the thousands of persons entering the City from other parts of the country. He said that waste that comes from outside of the City, even if properly disposed of, creates a burden for the M&CC.
The Mayor said that it might be another 18 months to two years before the new waste management facility at Haag Bosch is operational and in the meantime, all garbage – plastics and all – will continue to be dumped at the Le Repentir landfill.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies – like local government authorities – need to be more aggressive in guarding against the proliferation of plastic waste in the environment.
“They could affect the functions of our drainage and irrigation systems,” the Minister said, urging that fines for littering be enforced along the coast.
The Great Flood of 2005 was a clear demonstration of the magnitude of the environmental problem that these plastic bottles present. (Johann Earle)
