Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, M.P., who joined Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall for the clean-up activity on the East Coast Demerara on Saturday, said he hopes the activity will inspire people to take responsibility for the areas where they live and sustain it.
The clean-up saw the participation of residents of several ECD communities including Enmore, Enmore/ Hope Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and ranks attached to the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Speaking with DPI, Dr Anthony said that, “it is important that we keep our environment clean, as you know in many of the communities there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of how we care for the environment.”
“So, while we are starting this process today, we hope to sustain it throughout the year.”
He said an unkept and unclean environment creates a habitat for insects to increase in numbers, which he believes can be unhealthy for residents there.
“We know that is a space where mosquito larvae can breathe and grow and with an increasing mosquito population, you can have the transmission of a number of diseases so we want to prevent that and this is one simple way in which we can do that.”
This issue can be rectified with the help of residents to improve their living situation. As such, Minister Anthony encouraged more persons to give their support to boost government’s clean up initiative.
Ramnaresh Tiwari, Chairman of Enmore/Hope NDC thanked government for lending its support to undertake this exercise as it not only beautifies the community, but enhances security. Today’s exercise is the first of six slated to be conducted in that community.
Another Enmore resident, Phillip Waldron, who has been residing in this community for over 60 years told DPI that for some time, the community has not received support like this and so today’s exercise is testimony of government’s promise to its people to improve their living standards.
“It is a nice and interesting step taken by the government to help us clean this community.”
Avinash Rambarran, said that this “is a fantastic initiative that was started by His Excellency, Mohamed Irfaan Ali and now we are having a ripple effect of that where everybody continues what was started.”
Earlier this year, President Mohamed Irfaan Ali along with members of the joint services and private sector led this campaign to fulfil his vision of crafting a ‘One Guyana,’ building the spirit of community among citizens.