PRIME Minister, Brigadier (ret’d), Mark Phillips, who is performing the duties of President, has called on communities to keep their environments clean as he spearheaded a massive clean-up campaign around the city on Sunday morning.

The Prime Minister said the national clean-up campaign forms part of the administration’s continued effort, over the past two years, to ensure that Guyana is kept clean.

Prime Minister Phillips was accompanied by Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill; Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar; acting Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Colonel Omar Khan and Commissioner of Police (ag), Clifton Hicken.

The Prime Minister, during the exercise at the newly-commissioned Mandela-Eccles Four-Lane Highway, urged citizens traversing the roadways to dispose of their garbage in a responsible manner, his office said in a release.

“I want to take this opportunity as we cleaned up this highway to impress upon the users of the highway to keep your garbage in your vehicles and deposit it at home in your garbage bins as opposed to throwing it on the highway, because at some stage it will become dangerous to other drivers. So this is a good example as to the importance of people keeping their environment clean,” he said.

He also called for more participation in these activities as they unfold throughout the country. After actively taking part in the clean-up aspect of the project, the Prime Minister toured several locations including the seawalls and Cemetery Road to inspect and assist the efforts there. Other areas targeted in the campaign were Ruimveldt, the Church Street intersection, Bourda Market and Homestretch Avenue, the release said.

Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill was also out early on Sunday. He led members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and other civil society groups on the cleaning-up exercise in the Mandela to Eccles Access Road area.

He emphasised the importance of the exercise, especially since Guyana is hosting the Cricket Carnival and Hero CPL finals. He noted that a clean environment would have a multiplier effect in boosting tourism and facilitating increased job opportunities for Guyanese.
Members of the civil society groups were divided into teams and tackled various areas of Georgetown including Bourda Market, Cemetery Road, Homestretch Avenue and North Road.
The exercise is part of an ongoing initiative by government to facilitate a cleaner, greener Guyana.

“It’s about the cleaning up, beautification and enhancement of our communities. We’re going to have hundreds, if not thousands of people coming into this country.

They should think well of us. We must showcase Guyana as a major tourism destination,” Minister Edghill stated.

He said a collaborative effort is crucial in ensuring that the city remains clean.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, who was also part of the exercise, called on Guyanese to be responsible when disposing of their garbage and make an effort to keep their environment clean.

Minister Indar is also the Chairman of the Committee of National Enhancement and Beautification.

“You find that when we clean, people continue to mess up the place so we have to change this culture, it is unfair for ministers of government, officials, private sector, to lend their machinery free because they bring it to the effort,” Minister Indar said.

He also noted that the clean-up efforts by the volunteers would be futile if persons continue to dump garbage wantonly.

“Please do not litter the country. We are trying to clean up Guyana; everybody wants Guyana to be the Dubai of the Caribbean or the Singapore of the Caribbean; we can’t do that if when one set are cleaning and trying and they got another set are throwing their bottles, throwing their garbage. If you look around you will see their garbage,” he added.

Below are scenes of the clean-up exercise on Sunday (Delano Williams and DPI photos)