UNDER the new private garbage collection system sanctioned by the Ministry of Local Government, the privately-owned Advanced Environmental Solutions (A.E.S) company, started operating in the Lower Corentyne/East Bank of Berbice areas in July, with major support from the East Canje district.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Zaheer Osman, Managing Director of A.E.S, said his compactor truck is on the road daily to serve the communities under his charge.
“So far, it is a decent exercise. We are getting good responses from certain areas, but we have not been able to attract the support of residents in other areas. We can do a lot better,” he asserted.

Osman pointed out that he serves residential areas thrice per week, while schools and commercial entities are served daily. Among the areas that were mentioned are East Bank Berbice/South New Amsterdam on Mondays, West Canje/Fort Ordnance & Number 2 Village on Tuesdays, and East Canje on Wednesdays.

“There can be improvement in collection in areas like Fort Ordnance, Number 2 Village and Stanleytown, but our service in East Canje is growing. I was skeptical about working in such a large area, but it has proven to be the best area so far,” he disclosed.

LANDFILL SITE
The A.E.S is currently constructing a landfill site at Belle Vue, East Bank Berbice, and is currently using the municipal dumpsite in New Amsterdam to discard the solid waste collected from clients.

“Due to the inclement weather, we had some setbacks, but I am happy to say that 90% of the work has been completed at Belle Vue, and we only need to construct a few drains and address the access road,” Osman disclosed.

The contractor confessed his eagerness to deviate from the trend of using dumpsites to dispose of solid waste, since such a practice can have long-term effects on the health of a nation.

He also pointed out that the retrograde culture of indiscriminate dumping must cease in order for there to be any significant improvement in the town of New Amsterdam. “We still have guys with donkey carts doing private garbage collection — that usually dump along road shoulders. We also have people with open back trailers who are transporting garbage, which is not good from a health perspective,” he declared.

Osman declared he has seen improvement in the garbage disposal habits of people outside of the municipality.
“The people in the rural communities are improving, but I have not seen any improvement in New Amsterdam, despite the fact that the Town Council and the other private operators making regular collections. It is time that we see changes,” he opined.