The City Constabulary Department of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) recently announced a new plan to rid the city of its litter bugs, mandating some of its officers in plain clothes to arrest persons caught in the act.

This is not only a most welcome initiative, but one that is long overdue as littering has become a national problem of immense proportions. In fact, it has reached such an alarming level that it could be regarded as part of our culture.

It is most sickening and disgusting that everywhere you turn you could see someone littering, and what is even worse is that, in most cases, it is adults who are guilty of this despicable act.

Therefore, if children become litter bugs it would not be surprising because our adults are setting an atrocious example.

A common but disgusting sight is to see persons throwing food boxes or beverage cans from moving vehicles. It is also the norm for persons to dump their garbage into drains, alleyways, trenches, the seawalls, etc.

However, if someone attempts to upbraid these reckless and lawless persons, he/she would receive a ‘tongue lashing’ as if he/she is the guilty one.

What is notable is that if these people go abroad, they slavishly abide by the littering laws in those foreign countries, which in their own country they openly and recklessly flout.

What could account for such an errant behaviour? There could be several explanations, but the chief reason is that in our country there is seemingly no enforcement of littering laws and people are convinced that they could do as they please.

In other countries, littering laws are rigidly enforced and anyone flouting feels the full force of the law. These laws have been enforced so rigidly and for so long that if someone litters he or she would be looked upon with scorn and outrage. As such, everyone is fully conscious and  mindful of littering laws.

In Guyana, the opposite is true as littering and the garbage problems have reached chaotic levels.
Therefore, the move to intensify the anti-littering campaign will bring some sense of optimism and hope, but one would hope that this will be sustained because any other approach will bring us back to square one.

Our experience has shown that in the past, many campaigns aimed at addressing the ills of our society begin “hot and sweaty” but then fade out like a damp squib. One that comes to mind readily is the ‘war on bad manners’.
However, while the City Hall initiative is commendable, there is need for a national, comprehensive initiative to deal with the problem in its entirety.

In this regard, we need to begin with rigid enforcement of the littering laws, but in addition, we need to intensify education and public awareness at all levels of our society, beginning with the home and extending it to schools, workplaces and other public institutions.

With respect to the littering laws, they should be revised to include mandatory community service in addition to fines. The community service should take the form of clearing garbage in a given area. This will not only have a penal effect but would raise the offender’s anti-littering consciousness and, at the same time, help to reduce our garbage problem.

We cannot wait any longer to arrest this problem as it has become acute.
Littering is a major cause of our garbage problem which is creating an unsightly environment and a serious health hazard.

In addition, we are now intensively pushing tourism as one of our main planks to accelerate economic growth, and having a nation of litter bugs certainly will be counter productive to the efforts aimed at tourism promotion.

However, as citizens of this beautiful country, we should take pride in our country and therefore should make a personal effort to ensure that Guyana is litter free and that we have a pleasant and healthy environment. This is not an option but a duty of all patriots.