City Hall gifted recycling bin
City Hall yesterday received a donation of a recycling bin that is intended to lay the foundation for a major shift in the disposal of waste.
The bin was donated by Dr. Carl Niamatalli, who has for some time now been proposing a greener economy through recycling.
“We’re very grateful for this contribution by Dr. Niamatalli. He has been a leader in this particular area… There’s particular plans at the council for us to move with a project like that and this is the first step [being made] into looking at the separation of garbage. We’d have to introduce that to our city dwellers, the businesses, the homes but…this will start at our level before we go on to introduce it to the various ministries and hospitals… Mr. Niamatalli has coined the idea to put it together and come up with a plan so that we can change the way we dispose our garbage. I applaud him for taking such a stance, I applaud him for moving in such a direction and I applaud him for giving other contractors and locals here an opportunity to produce these bins so that we could keep the business here in Guyana”, Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentore said at the handing over yesterday morning at City Hall.
Mentore is also the one spearheading the project for the city.
Dr. Niamatalli, after the handing over of the bin, thanked the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the Town Clerk for supporting him in such an important initiative. He posited that the world has gone from contending with climate change to contending with a climate emergency, a state which he said that should put the citizenry into immediate action. Noting that there is a huge problem with solid waste in the country, Dr. Niamatalli listed seven pointers, which he called the seven Rs, to improve the situation: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Respect, Ready, Responsibility and Replace. “People must take responsibility about recycling. This is about separation of garbage. If we lump everything together then it becomes more difficult. We want to separate the things that can be recycled, like plastic, glass and tin cans. Then you have a compartment for food waste, which is a different type of material that will be handled differently and be used as compost. There is also paper and cardboard that will be recycled. So take responsibility, don’t just dump stuff all over the place, be mindful; recycle; refuse plastic; reuse whatever you can reuse; replace with wooden spoons, wooden knives and wooden forks. We want to get rid of plastic; it’s poisonous. It’s poisoning the ocean, the land and the air,” he said.
It was also noted that although there are ordinary bins around the city, people are not in the habit of using them, which makes the task of acclimatising them to the use of a recycling bin seem even more difficult. The solution to this, Dr. Niamatalli said, would be to have more bins around the city and to educate society about the importance of using the recycling bins through the media and through programmes implemented in schools.
Already there have been requests put in by the ministries to be equipped with such bins.
The recycling bin was manufactured locally and Dr. Niamatalli said that in addition to providing Guyana with a cleaner way of living, the manufacturing of the bins locally will create employment.
Dr. Niamatalli is also making preparation for the construction of an incinerator that will take care of combustible organic substances.