The garbage and littering problem in Guyana has reached a pinnacle, particularly in our capital city of Georgetown, which a few decades ago was regarded as the ‘garden city’ but today, because of inept management, has deteriorated into a ‘garbage city’.
The present situation has not happened overnight. It has been caused by neglect, mismanagement and a lack of concern for the citizens of Georgetown. In short, what we say in Guyana as a “Don’t care a damn” attitude.
The problems with littering and improper disposal of garbage are well known. They include health and traffic hazards, blocking of drainage facilities, destroying the environmental aesthetics, adverse effects on tourism, and the list goes on.
What is of urgent and grave importance is finding a lasting solution to this ‘monster’ which has been plaguing this nation for a long time. We seem to have developed a ‘culture’ of being reactive rather than being preventative. We seem to abhor the old adage of “A stitch in time saves nine’.
Finding a short-term solution now will be difficult because of the acuteness of the problem and the associating complexities. Nevertheless, a start has to be made and it seems finally that this is happening as a City Hall team has been monitoring the garbage situation in Georgetown.
While this is a good start, it is hoped that the authorities are cognisant of the fact that the task ahead is more monumental and there will be need for innovation, creativity, perseverance, commitment and will and strict enforcement of littering and environmental laws.
In addition, continuous and systematic education and public awareness campaigns will have to accompany the above measures so as to inculcate the right attitude with respect to garbage disposal and maintaining a clean and healthy environment.
We have to acknowledge our constraints and in the formulation of policies, plans, programmes
and in the implementation and execution of them, take that into consideration. This is characteristic of most developing countries.
A  World Health Organisation (WHO) forum on sustainable management of solid waste in Malaysia noted that, in most developing countries, there typically is a lack of human resources at both the national and local levels with technical expertise necessary for solid waste management, planning and operation. Many officers in charge of solid waste management, particularly at the local level, have little or no technical background or training in engineering or management. Without adequately trained personnel, a project initiated by external consultants could not be continued. Therefore, the development of human resources in the recipient country of external support is essential for the sustainability of the collaborative project.
Another technical constraint in developing countries is the lack of overall plans for solid waste management at the local and national levels. As a result, a solid waste technology is often selected without due consideration to its appropriateness in the overall solid waste management system. In some cases, foreign assistance is given to a component of a solid waste management system for which the use of resources may not be most cost-effective.
For instance, an external support agency provided its support to improve a general disposal site. However, the coverage of solid waste collection service is so low that solid waste generated is dumped at many undesignated sites (e.g., open areas, water channels, streets, etc.). As a result, improving the disposal site, although it may not be a bad project, would have little impact on the overall solid waste management effectiveness. In such a case, the low collection coverage is a bottleneck in the overall solid waste management system in the city, and it would be most cost-effective to provide resources to upgrade the collection service.