Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, Dr. Kennedy Swaratsingh, is urging the public to play a more active role in protecting the environment by disposing of waste responsibly.
He made the appeal while participating in International Coastal Cleanup activities on Saturday.
Every year, tonnes of waste are removed from T&T’s coastlines and beaches.
Speaking during the annual International Coastal Cleanup initiative, Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, Dr. Kennedy Swaratsingh, called on citizens to take greater responsibility for their actions and stop littering.
“Bring awareness as to how human behaviour sometimes cause harmful effects on the environment and these are things that even though we can legislate it, has to start with people having a consciousness. Stop littering.”
The Minister said that despite widespread awareness about the harmful effects of littering, many people continue to engage in poor waste disposal practices.
“We used to presume that when, if people know better they’ll do better. We know better than to litter but we still have these bad, bad, bad habits of throwing bottles and plastics especially single use plastics and so on. Walk with your reusable bag to the supermarkets. Stop buying plastic bags. Stop throwing plastics in drains. I mean keep your garbage in your car and when you get to a bin throw it out.”
Meanwhile, Managing Director and CEO of the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), Dr. Joth Singh, said that the agency is preparing to conduct a survey to assess the public’s level of environmental awareness and behaviour.
“The Environmental Management Agency is initiating what is called a knowledge, attitude and practices survey. The last survey was conducted in 2016, and that will give us a measure in terms of how aware the public is at this point in time with the practices that the Minister spoke about. And I think, you know, that will be very interesting to know, is it that the public are aware and just not doing the right thing. And of course, that would inform what action would need to be taken.”
Guardian Group was among the corporate entities participating in the exercise.
President of the Guardian Asset Management Unit, Miguel Martinez, underscored the importance of corporate involvement.
“I think it’s very important for corporate Trinidad to play an important part in various activities whether its coastal clean up, giving back to the community, and you know, contributing to the societies in which we operate and serve.”
More than 20 coastal sites across T&T are expected to benefit from the cleanup campaign over the next week.