The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry’s “Pick it up Guyana Campaign” collaborated with the U.S. embassy to facilitate the viewing of an environmental documentary “Trashed” last Friday.
The documentary, screened at the Threatre Guild, Kingston, Georgetown, focuses on garbage and the messy issue of global waste, and identified sustainable measures and approaches that can easily be utilised to avert dangers of improper solid waste management.
U.S. Ambassador to Guyana D Brent Hardt advocated for Guyanese to work collectively to address the garbage situation plaguing Georgetown and by extension the rest of Guyana.
“There needs to be less finger-pointing and more collaborative action. Guyana’s leaders must come together around the table and chart a path to solve the country’s solid waste problems,” he said.
If Guyana is to truly develop into an eco-tourism destination and to be recognised worldwide for its environmental leadership, Ambassador Hardt said the country cannot go on ignoring the degradation of Georgetown’s environment.
“Only by coming together and working together in a spirit of national unity can the government, private sector, community organisations and the people of Guyana meet this challenge.”
Earlier in the year, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) passed a resolution to restore the capital city as a matter of emergency.
The technical, solid waste, public awareness and resource mobilisation committees were established; however, their works are yet to bear fruit.
“It is time to move beyond talk and begin to identity concrete actions to solve these problems. This is a challenge of political leadership and will, of institutional strengthening, and civic education,” the U.S. ambassador posited.
Environment Minister Robert Persaud expressed the hope that the film would be a motivating factor that would aid in the reduction of solid waste pollution, which has been crippling the tourism potential of the garden city.
He encouraged the students to be agents of change, noting that they too can make a valuable contribution by leading the way in the national effort.
“Trashed” is a groundbreaking environmental documentary, which paints a vivid picture of the global problem of waste disposal. The film was first shown to a small group of students in June on World Environment Day. In recent times, the embassy has been working with the environment and education ministries to share the lessons behind the sobering film with students, communities, families and leaders in Berbice. The next stop is said to be Linden.
