— Anti-littering laws to be enforced
— officials set to remove street, pavement dwellers
— to place people of unsound mind in state mental units
THE campaign to clean up Georgetown is moving into top gear with officials set to remove street and pavement dwellers and place people of unsound mind in state mental units, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon announced yesterday.

The government is already spearheading a plan to beautify the capital, including clearing blocked drainage canals and weeding parapets and Luncheon said officials will be enforcing anti-littering laws in an enduring campaign.

Minister Priya Manickchand and team prepare for the exercise

At his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President complex, he said the crackdown will also cover posters and signs on power and telephone poles and along public byways.

He warned syndicates and promoters of picnics, dances, shows, outings and other events about “aggressive coercive” action by officials to stop placing posters on the poles and other places.

The government is spending about $200M to build a home for the homeless with facilities to accommodate about people at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice. The plan for this major project was recently approved by Cabinet.

Luncheon said the homeless in Georgetown are being removed to appropriate places for lodgement.

Those of unsound mind will be transferred to public health institutions and the indigent would be housed, clothed and fed at the state’s expense and other facilities, he told reporters.

Dwellers resting on beds provided at the La penitence night Shelter

The Cabinet Secretary said the campaign to remove the homeless and others from the city would be matched by strict enforcement of the laws against littering.

He said Cabinet at its meeting this week railed against the “unsightly placement” of signs and other material on the power and phone poles and instructed its officers that the practice must not be tolerated.

People of unsound mind on streets in Georgetown are being placed in the mental health unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and the homeless will be sent to the facility in East La Penitence near the police station in that ward and other places, he reported.

Luncheon said the net effect of the campaign is what matters and its enduring nature is intended to keep the homeless off the streets.

“So even if they were to return (to the streets) there will be vigilance by the authorities to ensure they do not remain there”, he stressed.

Human Services and Social Security Minister Priya Manickchand and Public Works and Communications Minister Robeson Benn have been overseeing the plan to remove the homeless and others from city streets and pavements.

President Bharrat Jagdeo has also allocated funds to the City Council to help it clear blocked canals and alleyways.