The Georgetown Municipal-ity will next month embark on a public awareness campaign to sensitise the public to the importance of keeping the city clean as the council sees such responsibilities as resting with the citizenry.
During a tour of the city on Friday, officials of the municipality told the media that the public awareness campaign is aimed at reinforcing the messages of cleanliness to persons, noting that the council was weary of preaching such messages as persons continue to litter.
PRO of the City Council, Royston King said during a brief tour of litter-prone areas around the city that the municipality will utilize its own funds to push the campaign which will target the main vending areas, public entities as well as certain wards.
He said the problem being faced by the council, “is not the council cleaning up the city, it’s keeping the city clean”, adding that persons would carelessly throw their garbage around without showing much concern for what image the situation presents.
King said the campaign will start on February 15 and the council is hoping that persons will understand the importance of keeping the main vending areas and other parts of Georgetown clean.
City Constabulary Superintendent Stephen Bailey told the media that some 22 persons have been placed before the courts for the year for littering. He said the main problem is making persons understand the importance of maintaining a clean environment. He said too that the municipality has been enforcing the relevant laws which apply to littering but persons still continue the illegal practice.
Former city engineer Lloyd Alleyne said that a number of drainage areas around the city have been clogged repeatedly over the years by receptacles which have been dumped by members of the public in the nearby drainage canals.
He said that the issue has posed problems for the city, noting that whenever it rains the drainage canals would be flooded with empty bottles and food boxes.
During the tour of the city, it was noted by the city council that several businesses have been helping by cleaning parts of the city. Alleyne said John Fernandes Shipping Company on Water Street has provided heavy duty vehicles to clean parts of the area in front of the business which has over the years been a dumping ground for vendors at the market.
In the Water and Holmes Street area, Alleyne said, business entities along Water Street had been dumping garbage in the area. However, N Mattai of the N&S Mattai grocery store visited the area and in the presence of Alleyne and other city officials, explained that it was other businesses in the area which were dumping garbage there.
Mattai said that the area was in need of a garbage block and that his business was willing to fund the construction of the block if provided with an estimate by the City Council.
Meantime, works are ongoing on the $16 million drainage clearing campaign in which the council will clear the main drainage areas across Georgetown. The council has so far cleaned several drainage canals in the South Ruimveldt and Campbellville areas and at the moment, workers are focusing on cleaning the drains in Central Georgetown.
The dumping of garbage in the city has been a sore point for a number of years and while the municipality has stretched its fragile budget over the years, it said, citizens also play an important role in maintaining a clean environment.
