THE Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, in collaboration with the Ministries of Agriculture, Public Works, Health, Agriculture, Tourism and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, has  spearheaded a three-day clean-up that commenced yesterday and targets several wards in the capital.

This activity is part of observances to mark World Environment Day (WED,) which would be celebrated worldwide tomorrow. The Day was initiated by the United Nations Environmental Programmme (UNEP) in 1972, and aims to become the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action.
Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Norman Whittaker, and Town Clerk (ag), Carol Sooba visited several of the sites today where workers were cleaning drains, removing garbage from unofficial dump sites and weeding road shoulders.
These areas included the East and West Ruimveldt (the environs between Back and Front Roads), Church Street and Kingston. Attention will also be placed on the Bourda, Stabroek and La Penitence markets.
Even though the exercise is expected to last for three days, the Minister emphasised that that is not to say that on Thursday the clean-up exercise in the city would conclude.
In expressing his dissatisfaction with the work done during the first half of the day, Minister Whittaker recognised that there were some issues with supervision and monitoring, and in this regard a meeting was slated for later yesterday to address the expectations of the working groups. The exception was with the workers in Front Road who were responsible for cleaning the road shoulders.
This year WED is being celebrated under the theme “Think. Eat. Save.” It is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign to highlight the devastating effect of food wastage on the global population and the global environment.
The ‘Pick-It-Up’ Campaign initiated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment to address waste disposal in the city is another notable effort to keep the city clean.