GARBAGE piles up in Georgetown by the Mayor and City Council and this should be a concern for the EPA because it is about people’s health. It is a concern about the human condition: how the people live and work in a dirty city. All methods for managing waste have some serious environmental impact. Waste disposal delayed can cause pollution of groundwater and surface waters when rainfall leaches hazardous substances from materials in the waste.

And as organic waste decays, methane accumulates, creating the potential for explosions. According to Kaieteur News Wednesday June 10, 2009 the contractors Puran Brothers Disposal Service and Cevon’s Waste Management, as of Monday, decided to withdraw their service from the municipality, claiming that they were unable to continue without being paid.

The Mayor and City Council of Georgetown should recognise frankly and from the beginning that it is the duty of the Finance Committee and the Town Clerk (ag) to intervene actively in the Puran/Cevon’s affairs with a view to guaranteeing them some payment for their services rendered.

Time and time again the citizens of Georgetown are made to suffer because of poor or no management by the Council. The state should be actively concerned not merely to preserve but to improve the quality of life of its people in the city, the quality of their environment, the quality of their society and the nature of their business.

I think everyone will understand that it is time for local government election. As I understand it as a former Deputy Mayor, the City Council of Georgetown is no rubber stamp of any body’s wishes, but since the outcome is not yet known on the election all that I can discuss at this stage is that the local government minister should act urgently to arrest this unhealthy situation. A municipality is likely to be lifeless if it is seen by the people as an instrument to be operated by others while their role is limited to taxes without proper service.
MOHAMED KHAN