Government help for City Council holidays waste disposal

THE Government has approved additional support for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development to assist the City Council in dealing with the expected increased end-of-the-year waste the holidays are expected to generate.Minister with the portfolio, Mr. Ganga Persaud, said the decision was taken by Cabinet during its last meeting on Tuesday.
He said, in keeping with that, Minister within the Ministry, Mr. Norman Whittaker has since met with the City Council to work out the modalities of the assistance.
Persaud said that the added aid is annual, because the Government wants the city to look the best it can.
He made the disclosure during a one-day media workshop on solid waste management, sponsored by his ministry, the Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
He once again charged that a prevailing City Council attitude of “apathy” is responsible for the current poor solid waste disposal and the attendant ills affecting residents.
Mr. Gordon Gilkes, of the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme (GSWMP), disclosed that, supportive of this objective, operations at the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill, at Eccles, East Bank Demerara, will be extended by two hours daily, during the festive season to also facilitate proper disposal of the excess garbage.
A reliable source said it is estimated that generation of solid waste can increase by as much as 60 percent during the festive season.
To modernise
Facilitator of the event, Ms. Jocelyn Dow, explained that it was part of a programme to explore measures to modernise the management of solid waste within the GSWMP funded by the IDB through a loan in excess of US$18M.
The agenda dealt specifically with strategies for creating public awareness by the dissemination of information within Region 4 (Demerara/Mahaica), so that civic consciousness on proper waste disposal can be improved.
It was disclosed that a number of activities targeting householders, managers and business owners will be rolled out in the coming weeks under the community participation and public awareness component of the GSWMP.
The operating hours of the HB are being extended for two hours past the usual 5:00 pm closure to accommodate the increased volume of solid waste

(by Clifford Stanley)