| Over the past two months, a total of 30 “litter-bugs” were arrested and taken before the courts as part of an ongoing campaign by the anti-litter squad of the City Constabulary. Some of these individuals were required to pay a fine of $10, 000 while others were sentenced to as much as 100 hours of community service, and there are some who are yet to return to court.M&CC PRO,Royston KingThis disclosure was yesterday made by Public Relations Officer of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown (M&CC), Royston King, who emphasised that the problem that exists in the city is one whereby “some people still continue to disregard the health of the environment.”But addressing this challenge, King said, has not been an easy task since according to him, “we lack resources to really meet the needs of the city.”King’s remarks were forthcoming yesterday even as he disclosed during a conversation with this publication that “we have always been painfully aware of the negative environmental conditions in the city. We have been doing our bit in the extant circumstances, including lack of basic resources, to provide core vital services to citizens.”According to King, the municipality is well aware that the unacceptable environmental condition that obtains in some sections of the city can serve as breeding grounds for disease-carrying vectors.Currently, a mass Drug Administration programme, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Health, is facilitating efforts to help eradicate filariasis, a vector-borne disease with debilitating and deforming potential. This publication understands that the disease can be easily transmitted by at least three mosquitoes Aedes Aegypti, Anopheles and Culex, one of which (Culex) is known to thrive on the coastland. In excess of 20 persons manifested symptoms of the disease during the past year.And since the disease is one that can be effectively eradicated before it is manifested, the Inter-American Development Bank, a few years back, furnished Government with a loan to cater to the Georgetown Sewerage Rehabilitation System project which entails a health component to fight vector-borne diseases, particularly filariasis.But according to King, City Hall is seeking to do its part in helping to lessen the presence of vectors in the city. Moreover, he noted that although restrained by resources, the municipality has been seeking to work with communities to help control the situation.“Vector control workers have been spraying and treating with chemicals actual and potential breeding places for vectors, and they even been using a waste-oil mixture to kill the larvae in drains…” added King.He explained that the Municipal Public Health Department has not only sought to spray areas that these vectors can thrive in, such as drains and sunken depressions in some communities that allow for accumulation of waste and storm water, but moves have been made to sensitise residents too.King pointed out that it is important that persons fully understand that breeding places could include simple things such as coconut shells and bottles. Added to this, he said that breeding grounds could also be the very vessels in which some residents use to store their drinking water if these are not properly covered.King noted that while Vector Control workers are busy doing the spraying of the surroundings, Environmental Health Officers, those within the Health Education Section and the Public Relations Unit of the municipality, are tasked with raising awareness and providing education to home owners. This, according to the Public Relations Officer, entails community outreach, sessions at the level of schools and messages disseminated through the media.“When we track and deal with complaints at the level of Public Relations there are many, almost all, of the complaints are related to drainage, allied facilities and questions of mosquito and fly nuisances,Cheap Jerseys,” King saidHowever, it has been the mosquito nuisance that has been the prevailing concern in particular communities, such as those that easily flood. King said these areas are Charlestown, Albouystown, sections of Lodge, Tucville, South Ruimveldt Park and Gardens, as well as Upper North Ruimveldt.“In some of these communities citizens have to be indoors by 6 pm (18:00 hours) because of the mosquito problem and so we encourage them to pay more attention to their environment,” said King, as he pointed out that “you cannot decouple drainage from the garbage situation. People continue to litter and dump their garbage wherever they see spaces, even in drains, and Sussex Street is a classic example…and this doesn’t help the vector situation”.According to King, in light of the fact that City Hall doesn’t have the wherewithal to effectively combat the mosquito nuisance which could lend to the outbreak of numerous vector-borne diseases, appeals are being made for not only the support of residents but also an inter-agency approach.“We need an approach that includes the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment and even the Ministry of Human Services,” King said. He however noted that the municipality has over the years been able to garner much support from the Health Ministry.But in order for an inter-agency collaboration to be effective, King said that there is need for an institutional way of providing information to all agencies involved in health and related issues. “We need to have a shared database to communicate with like agencies so that we can properly and effectively deal with these concerns…We don’t have that and therefore we don’t have an institutional way of communicating on these problems, so the emergence of the mosquito nuisance, for instance, is signalling the need for this.” |
