THE voluntarily clean-up exercises which have been ongoing across the country, especially in the capital city, continue to gain momentum as individuals, companies and groups throw in their lot.

Yesterday was no different, as the city buzzed with pockets of cleaning groups who took to the streets to clear drains and parapets, and even whitewash culverts in several wards of the city.

Louisa Row, Camp Street, Regent Street, East Street, and areas along the East Bank were among the areas that benefited from the exercise. The campaigns were started almost one month ago, after President David Granger had announced that he wanted to restore the city to its former glory. The Head of State has called on Guyanese to work collaboratively to ensure they move the country forward and keep their environment and surroundings clean.

Businesses and individuals have been pumping cash and resources into this exercise, notably Brian Tiwari and his company, BK International, as well as the Chinese Company Bai Shan Lin. Last week, similar exercises were conducted along Waterloo and Water Streets, while the issue of up-keeping and maintaining the areas already cleaned has rightly been the question on everyone’s mind.

Most of the debris cleared from drains and along the roadways are plastic and styrofoam materials, which have long posed problems for Guyana and the authorities in keeping the city and other parts of the country clean.

Guyana does have an anti-littering law, but it has not been enforced to the extent that it causes deterrence to those who are in the habit of littering and dumping waste indiscriminately.

There have, in the past under the previous Administration, been talks of establishing a recycling plant and placing a total ban on importation and use of plastic materials, but those decisions never materialised into policy.

It is unclear if the present Administration will explore these options in a more aggressive manner, as it is widely believed that that approach is the only real solution to addressing the issue of littering in Guyana, and more particularly in Georgetown and its immediate surroundings.

There has not been much word on similar clean-up exercises taking place in other parts of the country, although images surfaced, last week, showing that residents in Linden had also joined the bandwagon of cleaning up their community.

Last year, the then Government had earmarked one billion dollars to clean up the entire country, half of which was to be spent on Georgetown alone. Many of the works being done now were also carried out under that very $1B clean-up exercise.

Notable under that exercise was the evident transformation of several cemeteries across the country.

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, said last week that a forensic audit will be carried out to determine exactly how the $1Billion had been spent.

By Leroy Smith