THE diplomatic community in Guyana, in collaboration with civic partners, kicked off its ‘Guyana Shines’ project on Monday, at St. Margaret’s Primary School, on Camp Street, Georgetown.
This is indeed an excellent and most commendable initiative by the diplomatic community and the start in this direction has begun at the right place-the school, because children are among the best agents of change.

And our society urgently needs a change with respect to respecting the environment. This is highly evident particularly in our capital city of Georgetown where littering and improper disposal of garbage are  huge problems and in recent years have worsened to acute proportions.

We simply cannot allow this problem to get any bigger. Therefore, there is an urgent need for us to tackle and arrest this malaise swiftly and decisively. If not, our city will be eventually engulfed in garbage of immeasurable proportions in the not too distant future.

US Ambassador, Brent Hardt, made an extremely apt observation: “We all believe Guyana is a very beautiful country. We know it’s a country that is leading the way in terms of preserving the natural beauty and the trees and all that. But we also saw that Georgetown, as a city, is not as beautiful as it could be.”

It is unfortunate and a pity that foreigners seem to recognise even more our serious environmental concerns and have even taken positive action. Nevertheless, it would be hoped that this noble initiative, of the grouping of diplomats and others in civil society involved in environmental work and seeking to encourage and mobilise Guyanese communities to maintain clean surroundings, specifically returning Georgetown to its glory days of being known as the ‘Garden City’, would inspire and motivate support from all sections and strata of our society.

Certainly, this very serious scourge will not be defeated without the support and involvement of the entire society, cutting across the political divide, religion and ethnicity because the environment belongs to everyone and hence the responsibility of maintaining it as a healthy state rests on everyone’s shoulders.

“Our goal is to continue, so, if we are successful and we have a lot of interest, we will keep going. We hope to make an enduring contribution over the time we are here,” Canadian High Commissioner, Mr. David Devine, stressed. He said they are taking the opportunity to talk to the children about the importance of cleaning up the environment “because we think it’s everybody’s responsibility and it starts at a very young age.
“We have got to be able to take responsibility; each and every one of us must be able to make sure that we keep Guyana clean and healthy and make Guyana shine,” he echoed.
He said: “We are working in schools across Georgetown to be able to spread that message.”
Mr. Devine is ‘spot on’ because this is what we precisely need; spreading the message and getting everyone involved.
Of course, this task will not be an easy one and perhaps would not yield positive results overnight, but in the long term it will help to raise consciousness and respect for the environment which is the key to changing the attitudes of people towards a positive approach.
The days are gone when education systems were geared towards merely imparting academic knowledge and earning of qualifications. Today, education systems have to prepare and equip people with the capacity to confront the broader challenges of life such as dealing with the environmental problems which face mankind.
In this regard, those who took the decision to pursue the ‘Guyana Shines’ project through the school system can be assured that it was one of wisdom and vision.