THE Georgetown aspect of the Government of Guyana Clean-Up My Country initiative which commenced in July 2014 with a mandate to clean up the Capital City continues to bring significant health and economic benefits to thousands of the City’s residence.

A press release from the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development stated that to date, 52 communities have signed onto the Georgetown Clean-Up Programme. Of those communities, 20 have completed the community sanitation and aesthetics improvement project while 32 are actively involved in de-weeding and de-silting of drains, de-weeding of parapets and alleyways, and removal of garbage piles.
The following lists outline the communities completed and other communities where works are in progress:

20 COMMUNITIES COMPLETED:
Albouystown, West Ruimveldt, East La Penitence, Lamaha Park, Middle Road La Penitence, Durban Backlands, East Ruimveldt, Shirley Field-Ridley,
Stevedore Housing Scheme, Riversview, Wortmanville, Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Kitty (north & south), Century Palm Gardens, Meadow Brook, De-bushing in Plum Park Sophia Tucville (Phase 1), Rasville, Cummings Lodge (1st to 6th Street), guyhoc Park and South Ruimveldt Park (Phase 1 & 2).

WORKS IN PROGRESS IN 32 COMMUNITIES:
Festival City, Tiger Bay, Alexander Village, Kingston, North Ruimveldt, South Ruimveldt (Phase 1 & 2), Guyhoc Garden, Guyhoc Park, Tucville, Alberttown (North), Alberttown (South), Campbellville (West), Sophia ‘A’ to ‘E’ Fields, Lodge Housing Scheme, Tucville (Phase 11), Tucville (Phase 111), Atlantic Ville, Cummings Lodge, Subryanville, Lamaha Gardens, Kitty (Central), Campbellville (East), North East La Penitence, West La Penitence, Lodge Housing Scheme, Lamaha Springs, Castello Housing Scheme, Agricola, Charlestown, North Cummingsburg, Queenstown and Meadow Bank.
For the hundreds of residents who are benefiting from this general community clean-up activity, many of them are pleased to see the concrete foundation of the communities drainage systems which had been covered with 4 to 5 feet of silt; water which was stagnant for many years is now moving; heavily sited-up culverts are now cleared; alleyways which were engulfed with dense and overgrown vegetation are now visible and accessible.

A preview of an alleyway in Lamaha Gardens during the community clean-up

The garbage crisis continues to be a concern across the board. For many areas, the unsightliness was visible upon entering the communities.

Dwelling in filth and stench had become a comfort zone for many residents since they continue to dump garbage and human waste in drains and in alleyways and they show little appreciation for the resources put into cleaning-up their community.
In other instances, the well-manicured lawns and picturesque scenes are disguises to the poorly kept alleyways since many persons residing in residential areas choose to dump their garbage into alleyways instead of utilising the disposal service provided by the City.
On the positive end, close to 2,000 persons have been employed as supervisors, community enhancement workers and truck drivers. Hundreds of truckloads of silt and garbage have been removed from communities. Overall the health and the aesthetics of the communities across Georgetown are improving daily.