The United States embassy in partnership with several civic and diplomatic stakeholders, on Friday celebrated “Shine Fest 2012”, a culmination of activities to spruce up the capital that began in April 2011 and Tucville came out tops.
Realizing that the litter and garbage situation had reached a stage at which it could no longer be ignored, the United States Embassy, in partnership with several representatives from the Canadian, British and European Union missions, as well as civic stakeholders, namely, Youth Challenge Guyana and Conservation International Guyana, undertook to “contribute to building a cleaner Georgetown and a cleaner, more environmentally pristine Guyana and to encourage people and communities to take greater responsibility in protecting their environment.”
According to Brent Hardt, the United States ambassador, the aim of the project is to mobilize Guyanese communities to maintain a clean environment and reverse the currently deplorable litter situation that exists in and around Georgetown. The Ambassador stressed that maintaining clean neighbourhoods in Guyana can have several long-lasting positive implications. He pointed out that it can lead to better situations in health, sanitation, crime, investment and a smooth functioning infrastructure.
According to the Ambassador, the Guyana Shines Project had two components – Education and Action. He said that the stakeholders firmly believed that education is the first and most critical step in the process and explained that children were initially selected due to the fact that “only by educating young people can we truly transform the attitudes of an entire generation to build a cleaner future, as these children can become change agents who can encourage their parents and teachers to make environmentally sound decisions.”
As such, the Educational Launch of Guyana Shines was held at the St. Margaret’s Primary School on May 14, 2012. “Our goal was to build awareness among young people of Guyana of the harmful effects of littering and pollution, in the hope that they will take to heart the personal practices that will lead to a more environmentally-friendly future which can be enjoyed by the coming generations.”
Among the schools that participated in the clean-up were Ketley Primary, Stella Maris Primary, F.E Pollard Primary, Agricola Primary, North Ruimveldt Primary and the Academy of Precious Ones. In all, 13 schools took part in the initiative. A certificate of participation was awarded to each school.
Students were shocked to learn about the `Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ floating in the Pacific Ocean and the fact that birds, manatees and turtles can die from either consuming or becoming trapped by plastic.
Children were also quizzed about the biodegradability of various items which are frequently wantonly discarded and were shocked to find that, according to various studies; it can take a very long time for Styrofoam to be completely broken down.
Speaking on the implications of the garbage build up around the country, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Joslyn McKenzie noted that the expenses that are incurred for the removal of garbage around Guyana are in the millions. This, he said, is added to the high cost of cleaning drains and takes a toll on the resources of the Ministry.
Realizing the need for policies to reduce the severity of the situation, the Ministry, with support from the Canadian and British High Commissions as well as the U.S. Embassy on June 5th launched its “Pick it up Campaign.” To supplement this initiative draft regulations to commission Litter Wardens, who will be responsible for charging and fining “litter-bugs,” will be launched, McKenzie said.
He also stated his intentions to hold consultations with key private sector agencies to reduce the circulation of non-biodegradable materials. In order to accomplish this there are plans to place “taxes on Styrofoam and plastic” to discourage their use.
On the second component of action, the key message was that “cleaning up the city of Georgetown and all of Guyana can have a transformative effect on the quality life for all citizens.” Using the State of New York as a model, the Ambassador related how clean-up efforts by the New York Mayor led to lower rates of crime, new investment as well as a better quality of life for residents and visitors alike. As such he was optimistic that similar efforts in Guyana would yield similar results.
In keeping with this notion, hands-on clean-up efforts in the Tucville and Lodge communities were initiated and supported since it was believed that direct community action would ensure that initiatives such as the current one would be sustainable and would grow to include other Guyanese communities. Community leaders were selected for both communities and on June 4th, the Guyana Shines team, “armed with green gloves and biodegradable garbage bags” launched the Community Clean up Campaign. “To make the experience a bit more interesting the Community clean-up was made into a competition between the two participating communities”, each having two weeks (June 4 – June 18) to finish and maintain the cleanliness that was achieved. The communities were judged in comparison to how they looked prior to the clean-up, the amount of community members that participated, how awareness of the harmful effects of littering was promoted and finally, steps that were taken to maintain the cleanliness of the neighbourhood.
Commenting on the effort made by their communities, Lodge community Leader Lynette Pompey stated that though it was not an easy effort mobilizing participants and getting the work done, she wanted to see the community cleaned and this acted as her motivation. Curtis Harte, the Tucville Community Leader said that although he thought they did a good job, more still needed to be done. Ultimately, Tucville was announced the winner of the competition as well as the custom designed “Guyana Shines Bench” which was donated by John Fernandes Ltd.
Both communities were given large signs for their involvement with Guyana Shines which it is hoped would encourage pride in the work that was done and discourage further littering in the community.
The Ambassador revealed that even as the first chapter of Guyana Shines has concluded, plans are being made to work with additional communities and schools to spread education and awareness.
