–President Ali says; highlights that gov’t will invest in modern sewer systems, more public awareness
–mulls plans for heavier fines to address improper waste disposal
GUYANA has begun discussions with a global company to convert waste to energy, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has said.
During an engagement with members of the private sector on Sunday, the Guyanese Head of State disclosed that a budgetary allocation will be made to address the country’s disposal of solid waste.
“Waste disposal is a very important subject matter that we must address in the 2024 budget and going forward, but waste disposal is a complex issue. It is not only about the building of facilities; we have to launch a very elaborate education campaign on the way we treat waste ourselves, individually, as a family and collectively,” the President said.
Regarding the possible investment of Guyana being able to convert its waste to petroleum products, the decision will be based on an investor proposal.
“We have a team that is examining an investor proposal to convert all the waste in Mandela, assessing all the waste we have, they said that we need more waste to make the business viable [of] converting it to energy and converting it to different forms of petroleum products.
That is an active proposal we have from one of the leading companies globally, and hopefully they will make the investment decision,” Dr. Ali said.
This investment, he said, will be of no expense to the government.
“It adds no additional cost to us, there is no tipping fee or anything like that, so definitely we will move towards recycling, we will move towards heavier education,” the Head of State said.
Further, the government will be investing in more modern sewer systems and more community- based, oriented systems.
The President said that heavier fines are also being explored to address the illegal and improper disposal of waste.
Litter Enforcement Regulations (2013) prohibit anyone from improper waste disposal. Persons can be charged for littering. The Guyana Police Force (GPF) only recently had cause to go on a hunt for persons who dumped a quantity of garbage.
The Georgetown Mayor and City Council, under the Municipal and District Act 28;01 is allowed to fine persons $10,000 for littering, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can fine an individual up to $50,000, while a corporate body can be fined $100,000. Failure to pay the fine can attract an additional fine for outstanding payments.
The city’s by-laws also make provisions for persons who urinate or defecate in open spaces in the city, drivers who allow passengers to litter from their vehicles and those who ask others to dispose of their garbage to be liable for fines.
The penalties are already embodied in the current Act and there are new proposals by the City Council for increased penalties.
Last year, President Ali had signalled a warning to litter bugs that such acts will not be tolerated. According to the President: “We are going to put police presence at these sites where people continuously dump their garbage… because they have no regard for the environment.”
