Guyana considering jail time for litterbugs amid garbage disposal problem

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana government is considering jail sentences for persons littering, amid a growing garbage disposal problem in several parts of the country.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, speaking on his weekly “Issues in the News” programme on Tuesday night, told viewers that the authorities are moving to update and operationalise both the Environmental Protection Act and the Summary Jurisdiction Offences Act.

Nandlall said the 2013 Environmental Protection Act has a number of regulations that were never operationalised and that those regulations set out a detailed regime dealing with littering and creating offences in relation to littering, as well as establishing an enforcement framework that is comprehensive.

He said that the government will now be bringing some of those provisions into force that provide a range of measures that are already in the law.

“So, it is with littering in public places, littering in relation to motor vehicles, and it speaks to a system of fines. It deals with littering from a motor vehicle in motion, it speaks about owners of public transportation to provide receptacles for litter, and it creates a series of offences for persons littering on public and private premises.

“Significantly, it imposes upon the local authorities a series of responsibilities and power to enforce laws and regulations in relation to littering,” Nandlall told viewers.

He said the framework will be comprehensively reviewed, updated, and implemented.

“We will also review the Summary Jurisdiction Offences Act and amend that legislation to expand the scope in relation to littering and to put new offences in place to increase the penalties and importantly to add imprisonment for repeated offenders as well as a community service, which will include cleaning garbage,” Nandlall noted.

Under the Environmental Protection Act, Nandlall noted that there is a set of regulations that deal with noise pollution that were never enforced.

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