Govt. to receive US$1M for solid waste management in GT; Mayor not optimistic

[www.inewsguyana.com] – Local Government and Regional Development Minister Ganga Persaud recently announced that Guyana will receive a grant of US$1M ($200m) in the second quarter of 2014 for a solid waste management project for Georgetown and the five other municipalities.

The grant will be provided by the BASIC group of countries – Brazil, South Africa, India, and China.

But City Mayor Hamilton Green is not too optimistic about this assistance, despite arguing the lack of resources to effectively manage solid waste in Georgetown.

According to Green there must be a master plan to deal with the issue, alleging that the Government is yet to put such in place.

However, Persaud told reporters earlier in the week that the Government submitted a proposal for the works they intend to carry out, and that the proposal was approved in 2012. Persaud said that the revised proposal for the project will be submitted in January of 2014, and the money is expected soon after.

The Mayor contends that what continues to be missing is public education on the matter, something that was catered for in a previous project. He said there is no evidence that such was done and questioned therefore where the monies that were intended for this purpose are.

He said the sight in Georgetown continues to be worrisome and described efforts by the Government to intervene as a ‘band-aid on a filthy sore’.

He said the current piles of Garbage that can be seen all across Georgetown is a direct responsibility of the Administration’s action. The Administration on the other hand continues to blame the City Council, saying that poor management is the underlining issues at hand.