The New Amsterdam Mayor and Town Council (M&TC) has taken a decision to enter and clean the vacant lots filled with bushes in the town.
Environmental Health Officer attached to the M&TC Ackloo Ramsudh, in an interview with Stabroek News said that the cost of that initiative will be added to the rates of the owners of those properties.
“One lot has already been cleaned; it’s a very big lot,” Ramsudh revealed. “That lot has been an eyesore for a number for years…”
Moving on to the importance of solid waste management, he divulged that the municipality has started an initiative in schools throughout New Amsterdam to educate students.
“The message has to be spread because it’s not businesses alone. We have seen our community being overrun with solid waste dumped indiscriminately all over the place,” Ramsudh noted. “We would like to have this habit or attitude of persons changed as it relates to disposing of their solid waste.”
The health officer said a large sum of money has been invested in the dumpsite located next to Esplanade Ground in New Amsterdam. He further stated that work is being done to ensure that the road which leads to the dumpsite is accessible at all times.
“The municipality is only responsible for residential waste, so persons who have commercial activities that are producing waste in large quantities have to take their waste to the dumpsite,” he said. There is a fee attached to dumping garbage at the dumpsite.
“The charges for persons taking solid waste to the dumpsite vary according to the vehicle that they are taking it with. For example, a Canter truck might pay about $3,000 per load, a horse cart about $1,000 and a huge ten-tonne truck about $5,000 per load,” he said. “It is very expensive to manage the dumpsite.”
However, since the municipality is responsible for residential waste, residents who wish to dispose of their garbage themselves have free access to the dumpsite. He added that in order to ensure proper solid waste management in the town, the municipality will conduct regular inspections of the yards and premises to ensure that a receptacle is present to collect waste. Persons who “do not have a receptacle to collect waste on their premises… will be fined appropriately. We’ve recognized that persons who do not have a receptacle are the persons responsible for littering or dumping indiscriminately,” he noted.
According to Ramsudh, after a first warning is issued, the fines will start at $3,000 per household.
