Cleanliness and Citizenship

Sep 28, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Saturday 17 September, 2011 was Inter-American Cleanliness and Citizenship Day or DIADESOL. This day was instituted in 2002 and held simultaneously in Latin American and Caribbean countries during the third week of September, on the third Saturday.
DIADESOL is a “celebration for cleanliness and citizenship” in the Americas and is promoted by the Pan-American Health Organization – PAHO, Inter-American Sanitary and Environmental Engineering Association – AIDIS, among others.
However, on Friday 16 September, 2011, about 12:00 hours, I saw an act that prompted me to write this letter. I saw a male ‘junkie’ emptying a garbage bin at the corner of Quamina and East Streets, at what appears to be a ‘new garbage dump site’. There is another one at the corner of Quamina and Cummings Streets. As a matter of fact, there are several of them across the city.
However, the man emptied the bin and then proceeded to roll it back to a residence in East Street and collected what appeared to be his payment for the task completed.
I stopped at the junction for a few moments trying to figure out what just happened. It was not the first time that I saw someone dumping garbage along the roadways but something about this act stirred something in me.
I was processing a number of questions – why would we do this to our environment? How could someone dispose of garbage in this way in ‘broad daylight’ in the city streets? Where is the citizenship in this? When did we get here? Do we have to live with this situation, behaviour and attitude to our environment? Can something be done? Can anything be done? Do we want to do something about it? But what can we do? Should we do something about it?
After much thought, my answers to most of the questions were, yes we can do something. But what can we do?
However, before I get into proposing some simple but practical solutions, let me say that I think it is an excellent idea to have a Cleanliness and Citizenship Day because it underscores the fact that we have rights but we also have responsibilities, in this case to our environment and health.
Environmental health therefore requires not only that there is basic sanitation that operate in a sustainable manner but also that citizens develop proper sanitation behaviour.
Thus I would like to focus on cleanliness and citizenship. I will highlight what we do and how we can find simple immediate solutions to resolve some these problems.
The Construction Industry – How can they help?
There are many constructions being done in the city and in other parts of the country. Firstly, building materials are many times stored over drainage facilities and as such, this causes partial and sometimes total blockages of these facilities. These building materials if stored properly could be one less cause of drainage blockages. This could translate to reduce flooding.
Another point to note— contractors and individuals mixed cement on the roadways and very often the mixing is not done on an object such as, a piece of galvanise, or other. So when the cement dries, heaps of concrete remains and the roadways uneven.
Yet another problem is that the building materials sometimes occupy almost half of the roadways which forces traffic to either reduce speed or stop completely because that part of the roadways could only accommodate traffic travelling one way at a time.
A further point to note is builders waste. Many contractors after the completion of constructions; leave the builders waste outside of the properties. This can range from sand, to cement, to concrete or bricks or other. This practice or malpractice also contributes to the clogging of drainage systems and in addition, it looks unsightly outside of some of these newly built nice fancy building.
Sometimes after the constructions, the remaining building materials are left at the sides of the roadways indefinitely.
Utility Companies – How can they help?
Personnel and contractors from utility companies would conduct repairs or maintenance to their facilities and leave the waste at the worksite or in the environs of the worksite. This waste can range from pieces of wires to electrical equipment, pieces of pipe, among others. The workers for these utilities can clean up their worksite, or better, take away their waste when their jobs have been completed.
Police Stations
I have visited Police Stations and I have seen garbage being dumped either in at the gate of at the back of the building. Generally, I think Police Stations can focus a little more on cleanliness and citizenship. Maybe organise a clean-up campaign every four months.
The force is certainly not short of human resources. There are Police recruits, perhaps prisoners and the staff of the Force. I was in an Amerindian community recently and it was a pleasant experience to see one Friday, that there was a community clean up day and by the afternoon, the entire community was clean. This is the kind of community spirit I am recommending.
The only point which I brought to their attention was that the garbage dump was in front of the square. This, however, I think is cultural; we still need to develop as a part of our culture, appropriate locations for solid waste disposal.
Partnerships
Strategic alliances can also be fostered between private and civil society sector agencies and the municipalities. The municipalities may be short of resources but the partnership approach can add value to ensuring a clean and healthy environment.  For example, a few months ago a private sector agency was planning a training session with persons who operate ‘grass cutters’.
I contacted a colleague at a municipality and indicated to the person that this presents an excellent opportunity for a partnership between this private sector agency and the municipality. The private sector organisation was bringing the financial resources and mobilising the beneficiaries to train them to operate the grass cutting machines.
So while one of their reasons for the activity would have been profit-based because the private sector is driven by profits. The municipality on the other hand; as a public sector agency is driven by rights. In this case to ensure that the right of citizen to live work and enjoy recreation in a clean and healthy environment is upheld.
The municipality could have provided a resource person along with some information handouts for participants.
The training could have then focused on two areas – training the weeders on how to operate the grass cutting machines and cleanliness – collecting and disposing of the garbage – weeds/grass in the proper manner. This could include weeding/cutting, raking and even placing the grass in bags.
Weeders can have the bags for use and add a few dollars to their cost as a part of their service. I am not sure if the suggestion was taken, nevertheless, it is not too late.
Audreyanna Thomas

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