Georgetown has recorded notable improvements in cleanliness, with no major clean-up campaigns required in recent months, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Priya Manickchand shared on Thursday.
Speaking at her press conference on Thursday, Minister Manickchand acknowledged the longstanding challenges surrounding garbage collection across Guyana, particularly in Georgetown, where service deficiencies have frequently generated public complaints and media attention.
Despite these longstanding challenges, Minister Manickchand expressed satisfaction with recent improvements in Georgetown’s cleanliness, describing them as an encouraging indication that persistent waste management deficiencies are being addressed.
Against the backdrop of the recently concluded Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit and the historic visit of His Majesty King Charles III to Guyana, Minister Manickchand reflected on the improvements in Georgetown’s cleanliness, stating, “You would have seen the national cleanup campaigns [before]…and I ask you to reflect on the last few weeks, and you will realise that we didn’t have to have that because the city is cleaner.”
She further suggested that the absence of major clean-up campaigns was an indication of progress.
The Minister stressed, “We have a cleaner city; not a clean city, [but] a cleaner city because of deliberate, conscious efforts and presence that have been made over the last couple of years and particularly over the past couple of months.”
Minister Manickchand further explained that cleaning and maintaining memorial sites ahead of significant national or ceremonial events, including visits by His Majesty King Charles III or wreath-laying ceremonies involving President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, was customary practice in countries around the world.
However, she drew a distinction between these routine preparations and the national clean-up campaigns introduced under President Ali’s administration, emphasising that the latter were undertaken in response to the country’s pressing sanitation and waste management challenges.
Using the opportunity to highlight the importance of public participation, Minister Manickchand renewed her appeal to citizens across Guyana to take greater responsibility for maintaining the cleanliness of their communities, stressing that sustained improvements in waste management require collective action.
She urged citizens across all professions, including bankers, store clerks, bus drivers, market vendors and medical practitioners, to recognise their collective responsibility for maintaining a cleaner Guyana.
The minister further explained that the long-term effectiveness of improved garbage collection and disposal services would depend on citizens adopting responsible waste disposal practices.
Minister Manickchand said, “Today with this new plan for Georgetown and its environs, which will be rolled out across NDCs and municipalities in the country in keeping with our manifesto promises at the last election.
We call on citizens across Guyana to be more responsible in the way you dispose of your garbage [and] to be more responsive to the measures that are put in place.”
