TAFFERS and students of the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus started a cleanup campaign on Friday as part of this year’s observance of the 50th anniversary of that institution.

Students from various faculties cleaned the precincts of the George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT) in preparation for an inter-faith service to be held on Friday, 19th April, to mark the day in 1963 when an Act was passed in Parliament establishing the learning institution.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, UG Public Relations Officer Ms. Paulette Paul said that departments were asked to organise internal cleaning exercises of their own spaces.
Ms. Paul explained that the institution’s administration had sent an appeal to students and volunteers to participate in the activity by volunteering their time and energy. She added that emphasis is being placed on cleaning and clearing the external areas, such as the drains, which have not been attended to for some while.
Ms Paul is inviting members of the public to attend the inter-faith service at the GWLT, regardless of whether or not they had received formal invitation. She noted that for the cleanup exercise of the GWLT, Food for the Poor donated cleaning agents and gloves, as well as materials for cleaning the drains; the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) donated beverages, and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) donated food.
Ms. Paul informed this publication that launch of the 50th Anniversary celebration will be held on October 1st, when the first class was held at the University, and roughly 12 months of celebration will be held.
Meanwhile, University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) President Ganesh Mahipaul, who donned gloves to participate in the cleanup exercise, told the Guyana Chronicle that the activity should not be looked at as a one-time event, but should ideally be undertaken every year. He added that apart from conducting the cleanup exercise for the 50th anniversary, students should take pride in the campus and ensure that it is maintained the way they want it to be.
“We want to see this campus (upgraded) to a certain standard, and this is a start. And in time to come, hopefully we’ll get the support to do bigger and better things that will benefit this campus, that can preserve it and keep it the way it ought to be,” he stated.
Mahipaul maintained that the campus should be preserved for future generations. He said, “We should not perpetuate what is happening outside. We should be the change factor; and as you can see here, we are the change factor, and we are going to continue to be the change factor.”