COVID-19|M&CC’s public sanitation exercise gets underway
–to continue daily
–Business community urged to lend support
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, March 25, 2020
The Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s Solid Waste Management Department began its public sanitation exercise at 4am this morning.
The exercise is aimed at slowing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative, led by the Director of Solid Waste Walter Narine is being carried out in collaboration effort with the Guyana Fire Service.
The areas targeted this morning included Bourda Market and streets in the vicinity as well as the Kitty/Campbellville Bus Park.
The cleaning was done using water that contained ten percent bleach and ten percent Jeyes Fluid.
“It is just a small step to arrest the spread of this virus. It has been reported that it stays on plastic for three days and new research that just came out shows it remains on roads and wood surfaces for a day,” Narine told DPI.
The exercise will be continuous. “What we plan to do is to wash daily, certain areas in the city,” he said.
Tomorrow’s exercise will be extended to Water Street and in front of the Stabroek Market Square.
Narine relayed that they are also seeking the support of the business community to keep the exercise going.
“I am encouraging our business partners if you have Jeyes Fluid or bleach that you can donate to the municipality. It would go a long way towards the sustainability of this exercise because this is not something can be done one or two days; it has to be continuous.”
The Solid Waste Director noted that due to the current staff rotation policy in effect there have been a few hiccups with the collection of solid waste in the commercial areas managed by his department. However, he assured that there has been now no disruption in household waste collection in the city.