Minister Julius To Litterbugs: Have Some Civic Pride!
Civic pride – it is a virtue that many of us lack, and it shows in the way we manage the garbage that we produce individually. That golden rule to put litter in its proper place seems to have escaped quite a few of us while growing up, so we wantonly toss our refuse on the street when we’re finished eating or leave it where we were sitting for someone else to discard. And the highways and road ways seem to have become a secondary dumping site for garbage, according to Minister of Infrastructure Development, Julius Espat. He recently let reporters in on what their personnel endure every day that they have to go out and repair streets and highways. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
The unsightly, smelly bags of garbage that we dump on the street side on garbage day are barely tolerable, but the practice is necessary in order for us keep our living environs clean. But the practice of tossing loose garbage along the nation’s highways speaks to an entirely different culture. It exposes those of us who engage in tossing our disposable food containers, water bottles, chips and water bags, and other wrappings to the ground, as litterbugs. And the lack of civic pride among us seems to have lost its root, as those who maintain our roads have found.
Julius Espat
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development
“Garbage is becoming a major portion of our effort. We – sadly as Belizeans, we’re not appreciating our country the way we should. We – instead ah we di put on mascara wi di treat ah bad. Wi throw wi garbage all over the place. I mean, I follow vehicles on the George Price Highway weh I see dehn eat up, I nuh see weh dehn do, but dehn put it eena wa lee plastic bag, lower dehn window and throw out the whole thing. We know this because we are cleaning the shoulders that have never been done the way we are doing it on a periodic basis. And any time we bush hog pass through the shoulders, you see all the rubbish and the garbage. And we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just to try to maintain a level of decency.”
The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing recently produced a video, encouraging people to exercise better civic pride when they’re travelling.
Julius Espat
“While we are cleaning it to an acceptable standard so that it is safe if you have an accident or something, we have encountered that when we clean it, the garbage is at a level that’s unacceptable. And we, we have people following vehicles that are basically taking everything in the car, putting it in a plastic bag and throwing it out. It, we should be ashamed as Belizeans that we are not protecting what is ours.”
Minister Julius Espat reminds how hazardous it is if we continue to dump garbage improperly.
Julius Espat
“It contaminates the waterways. It affects the tourism. It affects how we believe and think of ourselves. Even wi goh across the border, wi button up and wi play prim and proppa, and wi find the garbage and wi put it in but as wi cross back into Belize, we throw everything on the sides. And I’m not blaming anybody specifically. We are hoping that all government employees, all citizens of Belize understand that if we do not protect what is ours, it will be destroyed.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
