Destroy the Culture of Littering

Jamaicans are indeed a contradictory set;  most of us will spend a great deal of time cleaning our homes and cars; even if this means washing it in the river and polluting the drinking water of others, yet we take great pride in littering our roadways, gullies and embankments.

Many Jamaicans who are privileged to travel overseas are cognizant of how the streets are kept. As a result, they would never think of throwing a KFC box through a car window. So why do they feel that it is fine to do so in Jamaica? Why have we allowed the issue of littering to permeate our society and go unnoticed as if it’s a norm here? The answer is mainly because in Jamaica we live by the slogan ‘Jamaica – No problem’. Nothing bothers us and too many of us accept a dirty community as a normal way of life.

Despite the efforts by the NSWMA, many persons still ignore the agency’s request to contain their garbage in plastic bags and dispose of them in wire-boxes, drums or skips. As a result, we pave the way for rodents to infest our homes and when diseases begin to spread, we blame the government for our own ignorance. We fail to understand that a dirty environment endangers the health of every Jamaican.

It’s a crying shame that we have lost our civic pride and have begun to accept low standards on which to base our quality of life. We flout and disobey the laws on the premise that these laws are not enforceable, as many persons are usually not charged when they do wrong. As a nation, we cannot be health conscious and yet turn a blind eye to this problem. It is an insult to our visitors, many of whom are accustomed to clean streets abroad. Driving them on roadways strewn with garbage to show them the beauty of our country is, indeed, contradictory.

The government needs to initiate a campaign to instil civic pride in our citizens. The NSWMA should implement creative ways to motivate Jamaicans to take pride in their country and their environment. Other countries are doing this – so why can’t we? We must destroy the culture of littering; otherwise we will forever remain a double-standard country, where we have spic n’ span homes & vehicles yet dirty streets.