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EFFECTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT IS A COMMUNITY EFFORT WE ARE ALL INVOLVED |
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Friday, 15 June 2007 |
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Page 7 of 7
 MS. MYRNA JULIEN, PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
THE PEOPLE MUST KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING- WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER
Getting the message of
efficient and effective
solid waste management
to every corner of the
country and to every
member of the population
is an important undertaking
for the Grenada Solid
Waste Management
Authority.
The person directly charged
with this responsibility is
Public Relations Officer, Ms.
Myrna Julien who makes
maximum use of the mass
media in an effort to get her
message across.
She is very interested in
encouraging compliance with
the procedures for collection
and getting a fair measure of
interest in solid waste management.
Julien too believes there has
been considerable improvement
in the collection service
since the commencement of
the authority’s education program
and it is not just the
collection and disposal that
she is concerned about but
taking it further in terms of a
holistic approach to solid
waste management.
The PRO said we need to
focus on areas of waste
reduction because we cannot
afford to be land filling all
the waste that is generated
but must look at diverting
the waste from the landfills
and get people in tune with
their roles and responsibilities
in term of waste diversion.
She said people have been
mostly compliant at the
household level towards collection
service apart from a
few pockets of persons
putting out waste at times
that are not prescribed.
The business sector however
she believes can do a bit better
in terms of the management
of their waste; how it is
stored, how it is disposed and
how it is impacting on the
environment, especially in
our towns.
The authority Julien said has
been targeting the commercial
sector in terms of its education
programs, trying to
get them to come on board in
terms of waste reduction and
getting them a bit more
responsible as to how they
manage their waste.
In terms of public education,
the authority is particularly
concerned about the escalation
of incidents of illegal
waste disposal.
This though, from a public
education standpoint she
said is not the sloe responsibility
of the GSWMA but also
that of the enforcers of the
legislations meaning the
Ministry of health and the
police.
Julien thinks that they have
a role to play in terms of not
just illegal waste disposal but
also incidents of littering, the
proper transportation of
waste so as to avoid the
unsightliness that we have
been experiencing.
Other areas that have to be
focused on include marine
waste, the management of
waste during festivals etc.
one of the authority’s strategies
is to try and target the
public education programs
specific to these occurrences
for example the carnival season
coming up.
 SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAM
Focus has also been placed on
the farming community, the
authority has sent persons
involved in farming to train
overseas in the areas of composting.
They hope that this
knowledge will be transmitted
to the farming community
so that they will see the
benefits of diverting organic
waste which makes up 45-
50% of total waste that has
been going on to the landfill
as a means of reducing this
and extending the life of the
landfill.
Julien recalls that in the past
waste collected was confined
to the towns and its immediate
environs. After the new
system was introduced there
was a little bit of resistance
particularly concerning the
payment of Environmental
Levy but with improvement
of the service the attitude
changed gradually.
Now the public has a greater
interest in waste management.
They call in with concerns
that they may have,
complaints about litter, dead
animals etc. and Julien
believes that this augurs well
for the future of solid waste
management in Grenada.
She said with that level of
compliance the authority’s
vision to move forward into
other areas of waste management
involving waste separation
and recycling will be
made much easier. “With the
interest that is there we
therefore can be successful in
our outlook for better waste
management in Grenada.”
The PRO said although the
role of the public relations
department is to interact
with the public their first role
starts in house because they
must have good relationships
with the operations department,
the waste diversion
department, personnel management
and all the other
areas.
There is therefore a good
level of cooperation in house
and if this was not the case
then it would have been
much more difficult to project
the effect that is seen outside.>br/>
A lot of the public relation
done is also highly dependent
on the work of the field
supervisors who identify
problems in their reports and
then the PR department can
go out and address them
effectively. They can then
interact with the people,
know the communities, individuals
and groups and
understand their needs and
concerns.
This cooperation then
between the PR department
and the other departments is
one of the strengths of the
organization.
The PRO sees the school programs
as critical to the success
of the authority’s objectives
saying the children are
eager for information and ask
searching and very intelligent
questions.
She thinks initiatives like
the school program will go a
long way in terms of helping
to make a difference in the
proper management of waste.
They can help to make that
difference and can translate
that difference to the communities
in which they live,
work and play.
Julien thinks it important to
look at the area of human
dignity and realize the
importance of the people who
work on the landfills, the
street cleaners and the people
who collect garbage.
In the past people had a tendency
to look down on these
persons and the PR department
has been trying to get
persons to appreciated these
people who work very hard
work very long hours and do
a job that is very challenging
and places them at risk in
terms of some types of waste
that they handle and what
they put themselves through.
They get up as early as 4am
to go down into the cold
drains to clean and make
sure that the streets are
cleaned before 5am.
These people she said do a
marvelous job and should be
appreciated for what they do.
Julien admits that there is
still a lot to do in terms of
public education but the
department is geared to move
that step ahead as methods,
technology and policies
change.
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