THE Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Litter Enforcement Unit will be closely monitoring the commercial zone in Central Georgetown for the next two weeks, to ensure that members of the public comply with the litter regulations.

Wardens from the unit will be vigilantly policing the area from Church to Lombard Streets to keep the heavily traversed commercial zone free of litter.

The EPA said it believes that focus on a single area would prove to be more effective than spreading resources across the city.
With assistance from the City Engineers and Georgetown Solid Waste Management departments, work has already commenced. Sanitation workers yesterday cleared garbage from the canal next to the Non-Aligned Monument on Church Street.

“Persons using this area are reminded that litter not only makes our city look like an open dumping ground, but prolongs flooding; provides a breeding ground for disease-carrying pests; and creates numerous other social, environmental, and economic problems, the cost of which is felt by all,” the EPA said.

While the majority of officers from the unit would be in the area, the Roving Response Team would continue to investigate complaints and patrol areas outside of the commercial district.

Illegal dumping can be reported to the Litter Unit on 600-0620, 225-5471-2, e-mail greenguyana@gmail.com, or by message to the unit’s Facebook page Anti-Litter Guyana.

Earlier in the month, the Solid Waste Department of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council handed over 60 bins to minibus drivers operating Routes 41 and 45 at the Stabroek Market tarmac, in an effort to ensure the area is litter-free.

The bins, which were valued at $150,000, were supplied by the EPA Littering Enforcement Unit in keeping with the “Pick It Up Guyana” Campaign.

United Minibus Union President, Eon Andrews has welcomed the gesture as a positive step in helping bus drivers to play their part in keeping the Stabroek Market Bus Park clean.

The donation stemmed from numerous complaints from members of the public about the bus park being littered with garbage, and particularly the bad habit of passengers throwing refuse through the bus windows during boarding time.

The law stipulates that all minibuses must have bins, but not all operators have been in compliance. The fine for someone found guilty of littering ranges from $50,000 to $100,000.

Members of the public had called on the authorities to focus attention on the Stabroek Market Bus Park with a view of implementing the law.

The EPA has taken a proactive stand in addressing litter bugs, and according to the Solid Waste Department, every effort will be made to confront and deal with violators of the law.

(Tajeram Mohabir)