Illegal Styrofoam trade in Berbice

Jul 28, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
First of all I would like to thank you for considering my letter, and I am asking you to grant me space in your newspaper to publish this open letter from a concerned citizen of the Guyanese community. I am writing this letter to you as a concerned observer to the current situation in Guyana involving the newly introduced biodegradable containers and their former counterparts—the styrofoam containers. I would like to commend the newly elected government on introducing biodegradables into the Guyanese economy. The deterioration time on such a container takes approximately 2 months to fully decompose minimizing the amount of garbage in our country, as opposed to styrofoam containers that do not decompose naturally in the environment, as they are essentially plastic. Normal plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose and styrofoam, being a stronger form of plastic, will take much longer or not decompose at all in the natural environment.
However, it has come to my attention that food vendors, restaurants, bars etc. (especially in Region 6), continue to use the more inefficient styrofoam containers that are now illegal in Guyana. Styrofoam containers are being entered illegally into Guyana through the Suriname-Guyana backtrack route. Shop and restaurant owners will continue to say that the old styrofoam containers are “old stock being used” because they will continue to benefit from the lower prices of the styrofoam containers as well as the advantage of the containers being void of all taxes.
When all is said and done, the government is robbed of revenue, garbage will continue to accumulate causing blockages in our drainage systems, and our landscape will be ruined by these unlawful tax evaders that are unwilling to commit to the government’s green policy. The relevant authorities need to step in and do something before the problem continues to grow right under our noses. Policy is policy.
The government had given adequate time for all sellers with need for food boxes to put systems in place, so that there would be no more need for styrofoam containers in Guyana. If the government is to enact a policy such as this one, banning styrofoam containers from Guyana, then they need to make sure that styrofoam containers are no longer used in our economy. As citizens, we also need to do our part to protect the landscape and waterways of our country so we would like to know, should we be sold something in a styrofoam container, or if we see items being sold in a styrofoam container, whom can we inform? What authority would be involved in enforcing our country’s policy?
Concerned citizen

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