COCONUT vendors in Georgetown are placing a heavy burden on the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) where the disposal of their waste material is concerned.

At the City Council’s most recent statutory meeting at City Hall, councillors agreed that a meeting will have to be called with these vendors to see how they can better assist the municipality with the disposal of their coconut shells in particular.

Solid Waste Management Director, Walter Narine, told this publication recently that the volume of waste generated by this group of vendors is “tremendous and it is placing a lot of burden on the department.”

According to him, the vendors pay a regular spot rental fee, but the coconut shells alone account for 48 tonnes of garbage daily.

Some time back, Narine had said that the local government body was in the process of exploring the option of having all coconut vendors stationed at one point in the City, from where their services can be accessed.

This decision came at a time when City Hall, supported by volunteers and vendors, had been making tremendous efforts to restore Georgetown to the traditional “Garden City.”
While no definite decision was taken, the proposal was discussed with the coconut vendors and Narine had said that they were all receptive to the new initiative.

Besides relocation, Narine had spoken of the possibility of having these vendors wear uniforms. This idea, he said, was to push a culture of uniformity at a time when efforts were being made to reorganise the socio-economic orientation of Georgetown.

He noted that a fee was to be implemented for coconut vendors to have their shells disposed of after a day’s work. “Those shells are huge, and sometimes the shavings and even the whole shell are left on the road or in drains. So we will be seeking to implement a system for them [the vendors] to pay a fee which will be used to provide disposal services,” Narine had explained.