We need to rid our country of not only garbage but garbage in our minds

Dear Editor,

Guyana has returned, once again, to the now familiar term, the “garbage city”.  One visitor from Finland earlier this year described her walk around the city as smelly and dirty. 

A common sight in Georgetown is Guyanese congregating around garbage and when a group of adults was asked why they would choose to stand amidst the garbage, said they love the aroma coming from the garbage.  We know this was a sarcastic response but nevertheless it was said unconcernedly. Students awaiting bus transportation display the same behaviour as the adults, standing amidst or around the garbage.

What is wrong with us Guyanese? A dirty environment is an acceptable environment? The old adage comes to mind, “we tell others how to treat us by the way we treat ourselves.” This acceptance of low environmental standards breeds “eye pass” and disrespect, self-imposing degrading conditions upon ourselves.  Seems we have lost our pride and dignity as a people.  We no longer can detect what is meant by cleanliness as opposed to dirtiness.  Standards have dropped.  We have to ask ourselves who took away our pride and what has really gone wrong in the minds of our people?  We need help, and quickly.

It is very clear our values are mixed up.  We drive the best vehicles, wear expensive clothes, own expensive cell phones, live in expensive and modern homes; we are more qualified than our earlier generations yet our surroundings do not match what I just described.  Two juxtaposed settings yet closely related and descriptive of many Guyanese.  Seems Guyana does not belong to us anymore.  We put down anything, everywhere and any place; no careful consideration for what we do for ourselves and for others.

A current example: shops and stores are sprucing up for Christmas inviting and luring customers into their stores but guess what! The drains in front these very shops and stores are filled with garbage stink and dirty and shop owners are even sitting alongside or around the dirty drains.  Never for one moment, would these communities of business persons think of collectively coming together and first clean those drains.  This area, for them, is not part of their surroundings or ambience to attract their customers into a clean environment and too, the customers do not demand it by shopping elsewhere.  Any and everything is acceptable.

We Guyanese need to foster community spirit and rid our country of not only garbage in our city but garbage in our minds. 

We need to get back to the days when political leaders, one such leader was, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, who used to get involved in spearheading city clean up exercises, leading by example.  Some of our leaders need to set the stage in bringing back pride and dignity to our country, remembering that Georgetown was once known as the garden city of the Caribbean. 

Yours faithfully,

Maria Rodrigues