SOME people still do not recognise the value of our environment and pristine appearances of our surroundings like the occupants of a Rosignol to Georgetown minibus (BGG 1177) who were travelling from New Amsterdam to, perhaps, the Berbice River Bridge last Sunday. I observed the occupants throwing out all sorts of litter, which included ice- cream cups, not once, not twice but three times from the windows of the bus on to the public road. It could’ve been that the guilty persons were children (it may or may not have been), hence their parents did little to educate them about littering.

I am sure the occupants of BGG 1177 could not have done what they did in front of my eyes in New York and cities in the world—not without being caught and punished according to the law. What they did made me sick, as they performed that act of littering, not hiding in a corner, but in full view of passers-by on the New Amsterdam and East Canje roads—the nerve!

Of course, what I saw was an isolated incident. How many more instances of littering in Guyana go unseen and hidden every day?

You know, the habit of throwing unwanted items anywhere we please, I believe, is an internal mind issue. No amount of advertisements on the TV, radio and newspapers, nor lectures and talks can curb this appalling and inexcusable practice. The issue of littering must be dealt with internally. Also, parents need to transmit the ideas of keeping their environments clean to children. I believe they are failing when it comes to this. I would observe how school children litter the school environment so often and somehow sense that they brought these habits from the home. Maybe it is what they are accustomed to do at home.

No matter how many garbage bins are placed at various places, I have observed that persons still throw their garbage wherever they please—wherever seems more convenient to them.

Persons must develop a deep love and care for their environment. They must develop that relationship between themselves and the environment. For me, that involves understanding that our surroundings and environment are gifts from God, and we are stewards to whom God entrusted those possessions. We can either love them, care them, and be good to them or we can do what the heck we please.

It would be a hard task to help people make that connection.
LEON JAMESON SUSERAN