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City Hall mulls stiffer penalties for littering
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.
Speaking on the issue yesterday, Mayor of Georgetown Ubraj Narine called on citizens to be responsible.
“The Council is cash-strapped, and so if persons continue to litter, we will not be able to accomplish anything; we will be going around in circles. Every time we clean, persons will go back and dump garbage. There are substantial amounts of plastic, styrofoam 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.”
The Mayor described the situation as very disturbing, since it has resulted an increased cost for maintenance.
Mayor Ubraj Narine
“So we encourage citizens when you see someone throw garbage out of a vehicle, call them and ask them to pick it up,” Mayor Narine urged.
He opined too that an increase in the fine for littering would help the situation
“As part of the strategy, we are also considering a raise in the fee from $10,000 to $50,000.”
In 2015, an anti-littering unit operated under the City Constabulary Department and proved as a 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.
Within 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. Litterbugs caught in the act were fined up to $10,000 by the Courts.
Additionally, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, along with the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA), had put in place stiffer penalties for those littering the city.
Among the new regulations are implementations where persons found littering will be served littering tickets on the spot, which will mean that they will have fines to pay. It also includes motor vehicle drivers bearing the responsibility for anyone throwing litter out of their vehicles. It was added that for now, some 12 litter wardens will be hired to monitor public areas; specifically for litterbugs.
However, where the M&CC under the Municipal and District Act Chapter 28:01 is allowed to fine persons $10,000 for littering, the EPA can fine a person $50,000.
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