Calls for collaboration on new littering regulations

SOME officers of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) are not too fond of the new arrangement, put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE), with respect to fines being charged for littering. 

The EPA fine is now $50,000, as of last March 3, while the municipal one remains $10,000.
“How are we going to work through that? I don’t know. But I’m hoping that those two agencies can sit,” Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green told the Guyana Chronicle on Monday.

She was speaking on the sidelines of the presentation of the 2014 budget estimates that were presented by Chairman of the Finance Committee Junior Garrett.
“We would not be benefitting from the fines the EPA is charging. For us to work together is going to be difficult with respect to the fines. I see it as if the responsibilities of the city are gradually being taken away from us,” Chase-Green lamented.
Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer, Royston King suggested that what is needed is an institutionalised way of dealing with certain environmental concerns.

Shared database
“There is need for a shared database which would allow agencies involved with littering to work together in a spirit of collaboration and unity,” he said.
According to him, the necessity for a shared database is so that there would be no duplication of efforts. Because a duplication of efforts, usually, leads to a waste of resources which could have been put into other areas of development for the city.
“There needs to be a more inter-agency approach,” King offered.
Last Friday, the MNRE hosted a stakeholders’ consultation on the Environmental Protection (Litter Enforcement) Regulations 2013 towards creating a public/private partnership to ensure proper understanding and enforcement of the regulation.
The consultation entailed presentations on the topic by staff of the EPA, the agency tasked with the executing responsibility.
There are five main areas under the regulation including littering by individuals and on private premises, litter from vehicles and local authorities as well as litter prevention wardens.
EPA’s Director of the Environmental Management and Compliance Department, Khemraj Parsram pointed out that the aim is to reduce garbage in Georgetown by at least 50 percent by 2016.
First offence
Under the category of littering by individuals, which relates to persons throwing garbage in a public place, the penalty for the first offence is $50,000 for individuals and $100,000 for every business.
The same penalty applies for litter thrown out of from private vehicles.
A fine of $30,000 or six months imprisonment will be inflicted on individuals who are found littering another person’s property without consent. This component also states that, if a person is found to have committed the same offence twice, the convict will be required to pay double the maximum fine attached to the original offence.
If the person fails to do so, then he/she will be liable to imprisonment of up to a maximum of five months.
The local authority and litter prevention wardens’ component relates to the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs), the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and other agencies appointed by the Minister of Natural Resources.
They will be responsible for the provision of receptacles for litter and ensuring that public places are kept in a clean and tidy manner. The litter prevention wardens are individuals who will be authorised by the minister to arrest persons found guilty of breaching the regulations.
Legal Adviser of the EPA Richard Layne said simplified copies of the regulations will be circulated to educate the public.

(By Telesha Ramnarine)