City Hall to reboot anti-littering campaign

Apr 29, 2018 News

The Georgetown Mayor and City Council is likely to reboot an aggressive enforcement campaign as a means of addressing the persistent problem of littering in the city.

Littering is part of a larger problem of flooding in the city.

Recently officials of City Hall decried the garbage situation. Deputy City Engineer (Ag) Kenson Boston, explained that the dumping of refuse into the canals and drains around the city results in not only public health issues but also flooding.
With the rainy season approaching, the Engineer’s Department of the Georgetown municipality is tasked with ensuring that pumps, sluices, outfalls and kokers are in working condition.
“We are in a period of steady but short rainfalls. And this can result in flooding in parts of the city but the Engineer’s Department has been working to ensure that the pumps, sluices and so on are in order.
“There are substantial amounts of plastic, foam and other materials that are disposed of in alleyways, clogging the drainage system. As such, we are appealing to the citizenry to desist from dumping garbage in these areas and resort to proper disposal methods.”
Boston described the situation as very disturbing since it has resulted an increased cost for maintenance by the already cash -strapped council.
“These materials being dumped into the drains and so forth can and have caused damage to pumps and we cannot afford for this to happen at a time like this. It can result in serious flooding to parts of the city.”
Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer of the Georgetown M&CC, Debra Lewis, noted that the City will likely resort to an anti-littering campaign.
She noted that littering situation in the City has led to an increase in rodents, mosquitoes, flies and other health-threatening nuisances.
We have been issuing numerous calls to change the situation but if the problem persists, City Hall is likely to unleash an aggressive enforcement campaign which will lead to persons being placed before the courts.
That is definitely something we will be looking at. At present we do not have an anti-littering unit. That unit was operated under the City Constabulary Department and proved as deterrent to persons who were prone to dumping garbage around the city because not only were persons taken before the Courts for littering but their names and addresses were published in the newspapers”
In 2015, with- in the first month of the launch of the anti-littering campaign at least 50 persons were charged, placed before the Court and fined for littering. Litter bugs caught in the act were fined up to $10,000 by the Courts.