Tuesday 31 March 2015

Port of Spain Clean Up




The Port of Spain City Corporation, CEPEP and the Trinidad and Tobago Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL) have the responsibility of keeping the country clean at all times. This  is an important job and is usually taken for granted by the general public. However, if these three major companies did not adequately do their part, the City of Port of Spain would be a quarantine zone. 
SWMCOL is responsible for the disposal of all garbage collected in the city. Majority of the garbage is disposed in the Beetham Landfill located just outside of the city. The landfill is one of the main causes for the smog which occurs over the city and if its toxicity level is not properly controlled the smog can become unbearable and harmful to citizens in its environs. For example, this was the case in January 2014 when the burning fires in the landfill caused the toxicity level in Port of Spain to proliferate thirteen (13) times the safe limit. This event resulted in many schools and businesses to be closed for 3 consecutive days and many persons living within the city experienced dangerous  respiratory problems. The news paper article in the link below can provide further information about these events.


The Port of Spain City Corporation has the biggest job when it comes to the removal of waste and garbage from the city. They provide jobs for persons to collect garbage throughout the city without the use of standard garbage trucks (as shown in the image on the left taken by Brett Lucas). This benefits the environment and it’s easier to manoeuvre through the traffic in the city. Additionally they aid in early morning garbage transport to the Beetham landfill to ensure clean communities and the Central Business District (CBD) before commuters begin their daily routines, for example; going to school, work or shopping. 

Finally CEPEP provides daily clean up and maintenance of city and many other areas around the country. This organisation is also responsible for providing employment for locals in numerous communities throughout the country. By having locals work in their own communities they show greater interest and commitment towards up-keeping their areas. They maintain areas by cutting the grass, clearing drains and waterways and picking up litter. 

In my opinion the clean up efficiency in Port of Spain has been at very high levels, for example one early Saturday morning we went into Port of Spain, the city was already cleaned and the workers were on their way home. Another example drawn from the preceding post on Carnival shows how the clean-up operations began directly after the festivities ended, resulting in clean streets on ash Wednesday morning.  This goes to show that the attitude of the workers towards their commitment to their jobs and to their country has improved moderately over the years.  










References 



"BEETHAM AIR POLLUTION UPDATE | Trinidad Express Newspaper | Videos." Trinidad Express Newspaper. Accessed March 25, 2015. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/videos/-BEETHAM-AIR-POLLUTION-UPDATE-2915-243045381.html.


Espinet, Rachel, and Marlene Augustine. "Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : Newsday.co.tt :." Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : Newsday.co.tt : Daily News from Trinidad and Tobago. Accessed March 25, 2015. http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,189928.html.


"Functions & Responsibilities | City Of Port Of Spain." City Of Port Of Spain | We Gather Strength As We Go Along. Accessed March 25, 2015. http://cityofportofspain.gov.tt/city-council/functions-and-responsibilities/.

1 comment:

  1. We agree with this post especially focusing the removal of The Port of Spain City Corporation. Indeed it is operational but we do see faults in the system since upon our visit to the city we found many filled garbage bags just lying in the streets and pavements waiting to be picked up. Also in addition some of the garbage bins were already refilled with rubbish. This suggested to us that the system in place is not sufficient and that not enough planning was conducted

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