City Mayor restates need for National Solid Waste Plan

Jan 10, 2022 News

Kaieteur News- The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is lobbying, Central Government and the private sector to move forward with a National Solid Waste Management Strategy.
During a press conference held at City Hall recently, City Mayor, Ubraj Narine, maintained the need for such a plan. “I still maintain as Mayor we should come together …and finalise a national solid waste plan [strategy] not only for the city but for our country. I have reached out to the Minister of Local Government as well as the various stakeholders about this,” the Mayor said.
He reminded that a study was done in 2013-2014 by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). According to the Mayor, back then the IDB had stated clearly that it is willing to help implement the plan. “At this point, I believe if the government engages the IDB we will be able to move forward to set up this national solid waste plant. There are many investors that met with me and even the government that have expressed a willingness to help structure and manage the garbage situation properly,” he said.
Aimed at enhancing Guyana’s Garden City image and improving its solid waste management structure, the Ministry of Local Government in 2016 outlined a comprehensive and economically viable, bio-friendly initiative that will serve as a blueprint for the implementation of best practices.
The strategic framework stood to guide government’s agenda on waste collection, transportation and disposal; improving the waste management infrastructure, enforcing existing legislation and promoting waste-to-energy initiatives.

City Mayor Ubraj Narine.

The National Solid Waste Management Strategy is to inform the country’s integrated efforts at converting waste material into useful resources by ensuring their full utilization and eventual exploitation for byproducts and value-added.
The objective of the strategy was to reduce the long-term environmental, social and economic impact of a broken, archaic and disorganized system of solid waste management as the nation grapples with the re-socialization of a generation which thrived under a culture of littering and unlawful disposal of garbage that has plagued the country for a number of years.
Its purpose is also to ensure that Guyana’s natural resplendence and unspoiled beauty remains intact and consequently preserve and ensure the health and wellness of the nation’s most precious asset; its human resource.
Among some of the measures is the already implemented ban on Styrofoam, a reduction in the use of plastic material, the implementation of a container-recycling project and the introduction of a robust garden/community composting system. The strategy covers a broad spectrum of waste including residential, commercial, industrial, scrap metal, those produced by healthcare facilities, discarded oils and electrical and electronic refuse. It is projected that by the year 2024, 40 percent of all generated waste will be recycled, composted or otherwise put to use.

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