Are Litter Wardens really effective?
Both Minister for Health and Social Development Hon. Ronnie Skelton and Territorial At Large Representative Hon. Archibald Christian agreed that the practice is being continued since they have seen garbage left on the roadway.
“I saw the same litter on the road when I was going home one evening. These things are wrong. All the trucks driving with the open tops, these things are wrong and the police know they are wrong. My friend the “Supercop” stops them and gives them tickets every now and then and they get very angry with him but as a people we need to understand that we only destroying our own country. We are not doing anybody else any harm. We are just destroying the place that we call home that we love and we need to stop,” Hon. Skelton said.
The Health Minister noted too that Litter Wardens were sworn in and given the authority to issue tickets for littering. “I don’t know what the status of it is but I know for some people there are difficulties because some people don’t want to be seen as giving other people tickets. It’s something we have to work on.”Hon. Christian said the Litter Wardens have been given a responsibility and “we need to just enforce the laws of the country. We have some work to do but help is underway.”
Some 30 Litter Wardens were appointed in January 2011, and the then Minister for Health and Social Development, Dancia Penn QC, had said in the House of Assembly on August 30, 2011 that there were some reduction of bulky waste around the dumpsters, as well as, a reduction in the number of drivers who are seen transporting waste on top of their vehicles.
Hon. Penn had also divulged that most of the wardens have observed that much of the littering seems to take place overnight or in the early hours of the morning. When asked, however, if anyone was prosecuted or fined to date, Hon. Penn had replied in the negative.
“What Litter Wardens have reported to us Mr. Speaker, is that they have been speaking to, and issuing verbal warnings to a significant number of persons,” she had said.
According to the law, persons found guilty of discharging litter from a moving vehicle, transporting waste so that it becomes litter, littering public or private premises, or failing to comply with a litter removal notice will be subjected to a maximum fine of $500 or three months imprisonment on being convicted by a Magistrate.
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