The Mayor and City Council of Bartica, Region Seven will launch a new solid waste sensitisation programme on November 28 to encourage a change in residents’ attitude towards solid waste disposal.

Mayor of Bartica, Gifford Marshall in an interview with the Government Information (GINA) explained that the focus will be on informing residents on proper garbage disposal habits, and to assist them to play their role in keeping the town clean.

Marshall explained that the sensitisation programme will seek to educate residents on a “house to house” basis on proper waste management procedures. Marshall explained that prior to the launch; the municipality will train a number of youths on Integrated Solid Waste Management. He said that having completed the training, the youths will be the ones that will conduct the house to house sensitisation.

Marshall stated that the sensitisation programme will be funded by Central Government, through the Ministry of Communities at the cost of $3Million. Marshall told GINA that the municipality “would have loved to fund the project ourselves, but of course like everything else, it is a new town. We are still in the baby stages and revenue is a major concern, a major hindrance to many of the projects we want to proceed with so we are seeking funding from Central Government.”

The township of Bartica recently secured $15Million from Central Government to restore the overused Byderabo dumpsite, after years of complaints by residents about the environmental and health risks it poses. Mayor Marshall recalled that the dumpsite, “was a mountain of garbage, infested with worms,” that also took over parts of the Byderabo road.

The dumpsite project is not yet complete. Central Government is providing an additional $5Million to cover the site with loam.

Now that work on the dumpsite and the waste management project is almost complete, the Mayor and City Council is hoping that the sensitisation programme will get residents to play their part in keeping their environment clean.

“We are spending close to $20M at the dumpsite, and it looks good for now, but if the same attitude continues, if we do not have behaviour changes, then we are going to go back into the same problems, so we’re working feverishly with the Ministry of Communities, more so Central Government to ensure that we educate residents on proper waste management,” Marshall said.

Government has been pumping significant sums of money into Bartica and the other municipalities to curb their waste disposal problem. The concentrated effort on effective waste management is part of the larger drive to make the country green and environmentally friendly.

Source: DPI