I want to tell you a story about the air we breathe. This story is about Guyana’s failure over the course of 20 years and now 5 presidents to find an effective solution to its solid waste problem despite intervention and assistance from organizations such as the IDB. For a look my review of the Georgetown Sanitation Improvement Program also executed with help of an IDB loan you can check the channel for Sewage and the City Parts one and two. In this feature I hope to provide insight into why efforts at establishing a functioning sanitary landfill and waste to energy project have had no success in two decades and counting. With a focus on the history of the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill let’s take a look at how the coastal population shoulder the ultimate burden from the environmental and health impacts this failure has had and is having up to the present day. We’ll examine whether a billion dollar out of court settlement made by the new APNU coalition government with BK international is in the public’s best interest and take a look at how best we can end our run as One People with a very toxic destiny if there is no immediate intervention.
Who is at fault for the toxic plume of smoke drifting into the city at dawn every morning? Is there something about Guyanese culture that condemns us to struggle with this issue? How could this all be linked to cancer rates in the country and what does the future hold if we take the right steps now? Let’s take a trip back in time and work or way forward to the present lest we forget the lessons of the past and condemn ourselves and our children to a bleak future. To contemplate the scale and longevity of this issue is to wonder why headlines speak of billion dollar settlements and justifications instead of criminal charges and class action lawsuits. Have a look at the evidence and make up your own mind. No human being and no child brought into this world should have to live with the injustice of having their lives shortened by toxic plumes of smog we are well within our means to both rectify and avoid in the future. Take a stand for transparency, against corruption and take a stand for the quality of the air we breathe. Take a stand for each other and it is possible to do this all with a commitment to peace and understanding. Subscribe to the channel to be first in the loop when I post and to support content creation in a tangible way please feel free to use the fan funding feature on the channel. There is much more to shed light upon and I have important stories to bring you from Guyana's hinterland so I have activated this option on the page to offset the high cost of travel and equipment as I view this work as public service. In return Real Guyana will be able to expand its reach and I will keep delivering content. In closing, I am grateful to those of you that help share these posts to assist with public awareness. The collective has succeeded at getting the dress code abolished or relaxed at many public institutions and I believe we can similarly succeed in bringing an end to this particular toxic situation. Leave your comments below to add to the discussion and share to help raise awareness of this pressing issue. Over to you...