Cameras for litterbugs, city clean-up

Jan 21, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – We all know that the City of Georgetown is dirty and that citizens, both residents and those who don’t live in the city, can be willfully negligent in how they conduct themselves in the disposal of unwanted articles, large and small.

In fact, many can be downright irresponsible and reckless in what they discard, how they dispose of it, and where they dispose of their used-up items. This is a fact of city life that needs to be corrected using different approaches ranging from the slap on the wrist to an escalating series of penalties that deal with such violators of a clean city and what makes for a healthy capital and good order.

We at this paper are for that, and recommend that plans and programmes, along with embedded penalties, are part of a menu of measures that seek to arrest what is the continuing decline of our capital city. It is a disgrace, and how we treat this place reflects on us individually, and collectively as a people. It is why we say that this is best done by the people closest to the problem, who would be the Mayor and the Councillors of the City, and the entire staff that is part of municipal governance. They either get the job done or they don’t; and with the proper tools and resources to make the desired end result possible.

That would be a clean city, even one restored to some semblance of the Garden City that Georgetown was a long time ago. It would take hard and determined effort, and for long periods.
There will not be a clean city, or one to be proud of with one-off camera moments, and self-important sound bites, impressive sounding speeches for the media. There will not be a clean capital city with what amounts to no more than another photo op for the gullible among Guyanese to swallow and say that something is being done; something that makes sense and that would be of enduring value, and make all of us want to linger in the shopping centres and markets of Georgetown, instead of rushing to get our tasks completed and then racing away as fast as our two feet, or four wheels, can take us out of it.
For these reasons we have this take on what this country’s head of state engaged in recently, and ask if he has any idea, one clue only, of how pathetic he comes across, how futile his actions are in the bigger picture. He may think that he is setting this wonderful example of rolling up his sleeves and leading from the front. But all he does is make himself the object of ongoing ridicule. We recommend that he lets City Hall carry its weight and fulfill its responsibility. We take this position, because we interpret what the President is doing as no more than showboating and mugging for the cameras.

That is not leading, not when there are all those other bigger things going on in Guyana that he ducks and evades, and never finds the time to address. What the President of this country is doing is nothing more than playing games, and failing to fulfill his larger duties.
The talk is of cameras and law enforcement for litterbugs. The biggest litterbug (litter monster) in Guyana is Exxon and all those other businesses handed a free ticket of no EIA, and the clearance to contaminate our environment and harm our people. Our fisherfolk are severely hampered because Exxon is out there and chasing them away, making their fields smaller. The President is better off, serves this society better by getting 24-hour surveillance cameras, not for petty local litterbugs only, who foul up the city and impair our quality of life. The President is wiser to target the monster litterbug, the powerful pollutant, and uncontrolled contaminating agency that is out there exploring for and producing our sweet, rich oil. The name is ExxonMobil, and we are clueless of the sum of what it does offshore. Target the company, Excellency, not just ordinary Guyanese who are easy hits. Do something of substance, let all Guyana see what is present inside as leadership substance.

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