Dominicans have been urged to take better care of their environment in light of a recent island-wide annual beach clean-up campaign which showed that over 44,000 pounds of garbage was collected on the island’s beaches in just one day.
Data collected during the clean-up also showed that over 10,000 plastic bottles were among that pile of garbage collected.
The Dominica Youth and Environment Organisation (DYEO) Coorperative conducted and coordinated Annual Beach and Waterway Cleanup Campaign, where various stakeholders, including several youth organizations and business houses on the island, joined forces for the cause.
Director of the DYEO Terry Raymond told a certificate-presentation ceremony at the Public Service Union yesterday that persons need to take better care of their surroundings.
“It’s alarming for us to see the amount of pollution that we have in Dominica,” he stated.
According to him, a total of 780 persons participated in the clean-up with over 29 communities participating.
“We collected over 44,838 pounds of garbage and this figure still has to be verified with the Solid Waste Management Corporation who actually collected the weight for us. We collected over 1,262 trash bags of trash…We collected close to 10,000 plastic soft drink bottles…we collected 1,167 glass bottles, that is old beer bottles or soft drink bottles on the beaches we collected 1,129 pieces of clothing, shoes and so on,” he said.
Raymond said 4,393 pieces of cups, forks, plates, knives and spoons were found and over 1,210 pieces of food wrappers.
“We collected 635 bleach bottles, 226 oil bottles, lubricant oil bottles from cars. We collected 198 pieces of metal, car parts and so on,” he added.
Raymond said that a total 146 condoms were also found. “Somebody would say that this is the indication that people are practicing safe sex, but we need to dispose of it properly,” he urged.
“We would like to encourage persons to take proper care of their environment… Persons can take pride in their country and find better ways of disposing their garbage,” he said.
SHAME SHAME SHAME
We really need to live like APRES BONDIEN CEST LATTE, we need to change our ways, our island will become a dump. We should ;look into a recycling program where we could probably sell the plastic to make new products and paper to make more paper. What going to happen when we run out of space to put our gabbge, are we going to put it in the forest. Litter and pollution affects every one, the fishes in the sea will be affected, then the fishing industry. No one likes to see rubbish, Keep DA clean and green for all of us , the wildlife, the tourist industry ect.
Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody do their share, We all learn that song in pre school, “LET’S KEEP OUR BEAUTIFUL DOMINICA CLEAN”
We need to take more responsibility for the cleanliness of our environment. We were just voted one of the World’s Top Ethical Destinations in terms of our environment. This should be reason enough to get us to keep our environment clean and green.
There are bins in Roseau. Open your eyes!!!
I am so happy to see that, at last, some people start understanding that We cannot bost end tell tourists “We are the green nature island of the Caribbean ” , We promote ecotourism,…. and, at the same time, ” offer them ” 44 000 pounds of garbage on the beaches !
DA could be a kind of ” Caribbean Switzerland ” if the citizens were responsable enough.
Officials must educate people and explain them how crucial this garbage issue is for the island ( at school, on radio/TV, in newspapers…)
They must also provide and give access to containers for the different waste products ( glass, plastic, paper & cartboard, batteries, …)
and then, we’ll be able to bost and say “We are the green island, etc…”
There is an easy solution to this problem. The country needs to invest in proper method of collecting garbage. Employment for the folks young or old.
HOTMESS!!!! YUCK!!!
ZOHR TOH SAL…MAL-PWOP
NEXT LEVEL – –
a friend of mine and his entire family visited dominica after i personally vouched for it, I being a Dominican, they came back and said that they liked the country side but it smelled in the city and was very dirty!!
How sad what wrong with you guys!!!
Dominica – the Nature Island. A beautiful island, being used as a huge rubbish bin.
Stray dogs, litter, people urinating on the street, drains blocked with rubbish. Just some of the eyesores in Dominica (especially the capital city). Why is it so difficult to get people to understand that they should not use the streets/beaches as their own private bins. There are notices all around warning of fines/imprisonment if caught dumping rubbish, are these threats ever inforced.
I would never ever consider leaving my rubbish on the streets/beaches. I dont see the point in doing that and then complaining about the state of the place.
PRIDE IN YOURSELF. PRIDE IN YOUR ISLAND. This is what is lacking, if we have both, then we would know better.
WE NEED RECYCLING BINS FOR PLASTICS AND BOTTLES AROUND THE ISLAND.
i second that, dogs should not be raoming the streets. they should be killed when found
remember when the mayor tried to get the stray dogs away it was a BIG DEAL? So much so the Humane Society came down and held meetings and press conference? Stupes, Roseau City Council should take all these stray dogs and put them to sleep.
Next send the paro’s Stockfarm for disobeying the VAGRANCY LAW we have on our law books. That will certainly wake them up, and help them get over their addictions. After they serve their sentence, send them Grotto Home for the Homeless.
Then we need to enforce the LITTER ACT because Solid Waste has placed bins all over the city yet peopple litter.
They are living, breathing creatures. Should we kill the stray people on the street as well?
Well since they are living, breathing (possibly infected) creatures why dont you take them and provide shelter, medication and food for them.
About the stray people, i suppose you did not read the entire comment.
So much for the nature island – gives new meaning to the phrase, huh. After all, we do it naturally… no condoms, no receptacles… au naturelle.
A clean country is a team effort and hypocrite people should stop pointing fingers at 1 another because we all walk the streets and if a plastic bag is flying across Roseau city o even in the country,,..no 1 stops to pick it up..in other words practise what we preach people…
They need to clean up dogs, paros, and vagrants out of town……………
Aylas Zandoli…is a pity i dont know you, i would shake your big toe!
you know me…….duh fraid…..:)
Well for one, DSWM needs to be more punctual in collecting garbage. And the workers need to stop placing people’s bins in the middle of the road.
Secondly, CITY COUNCIL PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESe do something about all the dog shit that is around Roseau. I have been to every Caribbean island and Dominica is the only place i have seen so much dog shit in the city.
As a matter of fact, I do not see so much dog shit in the country side.
Its is just too nasty walking in Roseau…..Thanks.
Hello wake up .. The organisation DSWMC and City Council are not the problem. The problem is the citizens.
It would seem that you did not read the article before making your statement. This is gabbage collected on the Beach. When we go to the beach we need to take back home our gabbage. I can say so with conviction because I do really keep my gabbage and dispose it properly. This is somethong I have spoken about in other forums. It is very disheartenignto see persons fly out their KFC / Plastic bags and bottles on the side of the Road. I always say that KFC have got their gabbage bins in their organisation. You do not want to eat there and dispose in their bin, then ensure you keep your plastic bags and boxes etc and carry it home and dispose of properly. They eat on the buses although they should not eat on the buses and dump anywhere on the wayside.
they also dump their KFC glasses / Plastic bottles in the little bin provided for the passengers for a small paper etc. The bus Driver is not you gabbage collector. He only has this bin provided for a sweet paper or small objects etc. Your one plastic of KFC actualy fills the Bus bin.
We have to be responsible and do not litter indisriminately. I can speak again with conviction since I do not litter. I carry my gabbage home and sometimes you may see me with a few bags but definitely one may contain the gabbage that I manufactured.
Hey just giving my two cents,
So you don’t think hmm make sense. We are wide awake. We’ve read what was stated. Are you saying we do not have a dog shit issue in Roseau. The article refers to the collection of garbage on the beaches but it also asked to help keep DA clean…they were not talking about the beach only.
You don’t think it would be nice to have alot of garbage bins in and around the city??? Its almost no preasure on anyone to establish a garbage collection system in Roseau…its actually job creation. Garbage collection is very important…garbage collectors are well paid…there is a reason…Tourism. just visit a few tourist destination around the Caribbean. We a headed into a tourist industry…we should invest in it.
take heart my children; just let de chines set up shop, the bow wow problem will be stewed away.
Lets keep our communities clean…more garbage bins will also help..PEOPLE, please clean up after yourselves…..
I agree with a fine however they needto have adequate gabbage receptacles for persons to place the gabbage. The same with urine in Roseau.
some of these dominicans need to be educated about the environment .have the watch the discovery channel instead of being so harsh to each other
Some Dominicans do not take the time to think before they destroy the beauty of the same country that they live in; and those people should be ashamed, fined & imprisoned. We can do so much better. But remember, you must first be good to be better & that report just confirmed that this country is on the brink of worse. Let us be more thoughtful & considerate. No one would be attracted to a man or woman who was untidy, dirty and in disarray, neither would anyone encourage that sort of appearance to him/her; so why are some continually polluting Dominica when the change from that to Cleanliness can begin with them?
Peharps an on the spot fine should be introduced for anyone caught littering.
yah right, that will happen.
Sure it can happen….vehicles are stopped on the regular to check licence, young boys sitting on the corner are searched for drugs….what happen any officer on patrol….even if they are just heading home from work….cannot fine persons they see littering.
Clean up after yourselves people. Take your own trash sacks with you.
It would be nice if there were garbage bins, however, unfortunately they would probably fill up faster than the dump truck would be around to empty them.
True say … Take it home with you and dispose properly. Bins would encourage persons to be less responsible as they would full up the bins faster and persons (vagrants) looking thru trash would just litter again. If you eat in the restaurant dispose the gabbage there. You want to walk the street and eat .. This is your choice but keep the plastic bottle, KFC boxes, Paper bags and dispose at your home for the collection day by DSWMC. Also persons need to manage their garbage – use peelings etc as compost. and recycle what be recycled.
Sure that makes sense….I should carry it home with me along with baby in the carry on my chest, holding on to anothers hand, carrying my work bag, a baby bag and the child’s school bags (after all we know how darn heavy those school bags are today), and a few bags of groceries.
It’s true we shouldn’t wait on government or other organizations to be responsible but it also helps if they actually DO THEIR JOBS TOO instead of give us excuses after excuses and talk about social responsibility when they don’t do shit.
why can,t you guys see these fast food culture you ‘nature island’ adopting is just full of packaging that to hard to dispose of, it’s all plactic,When we had our “agriculture” there was less polution,we would put the peelings right back in the ground.
befor you give me blows , think of the chain reaction.
You all didn’t tally the condoms properly. More condoms should have been found
ADMIN
lol
LOL…I nearly choke on my lunch!!! You checking your contribution alone should have made that figure higher??
So many little things can be done by us to help our country. It does not take a group, the government, foreign aid, you name it to help keep Dominica clean. You can find the letter i twice in Dominica, so let us start with ourselves. What can i do to better my country? It does not take much to just keep your trash until you can dispose of it properly. Now those of us living near the cost line, let us stop throwing our bottles in the gutter so that the rain can wash it away from our sight.
44 000 pounds of trash is a lot of trash. Lets keep Dominica clean and green.
True but what happens when you have no transportation and Solid Waste takes over three weeks to collect garbage. Should “I” allow it to collect inside my house or accumulate outside.
They said pick up is once a week on Wednesday yet they don’t pick up garbage consistently and now every morning I have to clean up rat urine and stool before my very young children get into it. As for outside my house….”what should I do about the dogs who carry my garbage alone the sides of the roads?” I guess ” I ” need to get up every morning and pick that up too.
Again if each one does his/her part things will happen. If you do your part and the DSWMC does their part then all will be well but we are not going to drop the waste in the gutter because DSWMC is not passing by as regularly as they should.
This hard work should be applauded.
I totally agree
bins need to be placed at strategic places and arrangements made so they can be emptied..
Bins,
, I see ppl all the time eat and drop stuff where they stand in the middle of Roseau when there is a bin not more than 5 feet from where they stand.
an idea or job creation… employ “litter policemen”
BINS in Roseau…..with the exception of Bayfront I have yet to see one. And I sure most of the people who do that is because that is what they have become used to because the other alternative has been to carry your garbage with you until u find somewhere to dispose of it. I am sure if bins are placed and laws are enforced people will eventually get used to the idea of disposing their waste in bins.
And Solid Waste also needs to do their jobs as well and stop making excuses.