The article reflected below was previously published. However, since I’ve recently been asked by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development to continue my work (as Chairman of the Implementation Committee) with the Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown in a more ‘hands-on’ manner in dealing with the operations of the M&CC (mainly with regards to ensuring that the COI recommendation sare implemented), I thought it relevant to republish this article. I also wanted to make it clear, that this time around there will be improvements within the M&CC and our beloved “Garden City”. This will be accomplished by working with the Council,, management and staff of M&CC.
THERE is the old saying, “Once bitten, twice shy”.  This is one bit of traditional wisdom that doesn’t seem to apply to us in Guyana, particularly when it comes to keeping our capital city from being submerged every year.
If ever we needed a hard lesson in how devastating today’s rainy seasons can be, the Flood of 2005 was it.  In a land that has not known natural disaster as intimately as many of our continental neighbours, we received an extremely traumatic introduction.  We may not have had a massive headline making death toll as we often see coming out of Asian natural disasters, for example, but the disruption to the quality and rhythm of life was unprecedented.
The complexities of Guyana’s coastal drainage system cannot be given justice in a single editorial, but the situation in Georgetown is one that begs attention, given that is ultimately preventable.  We know the two stock excuses: climate change and the blockage of the drainage system by the indiscriminate and improper disposal of garbage.
This is unacceptable.  Climate change and improper garbage disposal are not excuses – they are related causes which deserve proactive attention.  There is nothing that can be done about climate change in the short-term.  It is a global phenomenon that is going to take decades of concerted international effort to stop, and probably decades more to reverse.
Indeed, if anything, this  should spur us to be even more proactive in adopting systems to mitigate the impact it has, particularly dealing with excessive rainfall.
The fact of garbage clogging the drainage system of Guyana’s capital city, not some under-funded village in an obscure rural area, is a preventable factor.  I am surprised that there is not greater public advocacy geared towards reversing this phenomenon.  We are not incapable of public action for positive change here in Guyana – when our abortion laws were about to be changed, there was great public outcry; the War on Bad Manners had tremendous public support.  How is it that something that affects us so profoundly doesn’t have the same level of attention?
Maybe we are just culturally opposed to recognising the tremendous impact that the annual flooding of the City has on so many areas.  With regards to the economy, it costs money to institute stop-gap measures to prevent the watering from damaging property; as well as cleaning up when those measures don’t work.  And there is no way that flood waters mixing with raw sewage can be anything but harmful to public health, which in itself has an attached economic element.
Whether it is schoolchildren dumping food boxes in gutters, weekend revelers disposing of beverage bottles at whatever location is most convenient to their state of intoxication, or city residents failing to take full advantage of what has been a commendable public garbage pick-up system, or business owners concerned only with having refuse removed from their immediate vicinity with no concern where it ultimately ends up, no one seems to be concerned at how their actions contribute to the problem.  If we were to give an extremely conservative estimate of improper garbage disposal contributing to 10 percent of the accumulation of water in the City’s drainage system, it is still an avoidable 10 per cent.
The time has come for the excuses to stop.  What is lacking is proper enforcement of current garbage disposal laws; or even Draconian amendments to existing legislation and, of course, proper enforcement.  We need a system of surveillance and prosecution, one that is incorruptible and objective in its operation, in which standard penalties are set with regard to the improper disposal of refuse, infractions monitored and reported, and offenders brought to face the law without fear or favour.
And, as may be necessary, penalties should be set as well for the inability of responsible officials to carry out their duties.  Something needs to be done or the cost of this continuing irresponsibility may be too much to bear – that is if it isn’t already.