Manickchand outlines efforts to help keep Georgetown clean

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 November 2026, 22:56 by Written By Denis Chabrol

Regulations on punishing litterbugs under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) are to be amended as part of a raft of ongoing measures to ensure Georgetown remains clean, but Local Government Minister Priya Manickchand could not say when the drainage system would be cleaned and street dwellers would be removed.

“There are some gaps in those regulations, some of which are a limitation on who can be wardens, because only a warden can charge, who could prosecute, what the fines are, whether it makes sense for somebody to not mind being charged because the fine is so low. We are currently looking at that draft to be able to take those to the National Assembly and make them into law,” she told a news conference. 

She said long before the United Kingdom’s monarch, King Charles III arrived and after he departed Guyana, the capital city remained clean because central government was investing in garbage compactor trucks to clear domestic waste.

She said waste from Sophia would be collected for the first time, with her ministry set to acquire about 60 more compactor trucks that would also be deployed to pick up skip-bins. “We have bought our own trucks to pick up skip bins, because whatever it is, even when our attitude in the city has changed, we will still need to do that in and out,” said Ms Manickchand, a long-serving minister in the areas of human services, education and local government.  The Local Government and Regional Development Minister said the skip-bins were being placed in areas temporarily while authorities ensure punctual door-to-door waste collection.

Arrangements have been made for garbage in city constituencies eight, 10, 11 and 13 to be collected twice weekly because “some constituencies are so densely populated, they need a second pickup.”

Ms Manickchand said she convinced contracted garbage collectors to drop a 48-hour waiting clause in their agreements with the City Council administration. Instead, she said if they do not collect the garbage and City Hall has to hire another collector, the contractors would have to pay. “So if you have a scheduled date, you have to pick up on this date. If you don’t pick up on this date, then we will find someone to pick up at a cost which the contractor will then bear,” she said. 

The Local Government Minister said central government was also hiring about 26 community service providers and equipping them with an e-bike to monitor waste disposal in all of the constituencies. “That is their job, to tell us what’s happening in the community generally, but particularly regarding garbage collection and disposal,” she said. Additionally, she said a chatbot would be provided for residents in neighbourhood councils and towns to inform her ministry whether or not their garbage has been picked up. 

Ms Manickchand said flyers would be distributed to all homes in Georgetown, informing residents when heir domestic garbage and parapet waste would be collected and a contact number for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.

However, the minister could not say when the drainage network in Georgetown would be cleaned, saying that was the responsibility of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). “We don’t have a timeline on it,’ she said. That agency had held community consultations earlier this year. She said some efforts were being made to trap solid waste from the drainage system.

Due to the prolonged dry weather, the water level in a number of canals and trenches is low and showing the shallowness as they are packed with silt.

She also could not say when street dwellers–many of whom empty garbage bins on the roads and walkways or dispose of food boxes and cups on streets after eating donated food– would be removed. The former human services minister said the issue of street dwelling was a complex one because of mental and physical health issues, homelessness and the desire to  live on the streets except they need to bathe, eat and taking their medication. “You’re asking me for a timeline, and it would be very easy for me to sit here and say, oh, by next year, June, we’ll have that fixed. I can’t do that because I think we’ve all seen, those are three very complex categories of persons, of issues to deal with,” she said.

The long-term strategy to maintain the cleanliness of Georgetown includes support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to roll out an education program across schools “so that hopefully the next generation won’t be as nasty as this one, and will understand why we cannot be littering and destroying our environment, the very thing that we rely on to sustain us all.” She appealed to residents, professionals and businesspersons at all levels to play their part. “None of this will be effective if we don’t all pause, all pause, and say, how could I be better for my country?… We call on citizens across Guyana to be more responsible, to be more responsible in the way they dispose of their garbage, to be more responsive to the measures that are being put in place.”