Bluefields Community Group Stage Anti-Litter March

The Bluefields People’s Community Association (BPCA) carried out its first anti-litter march in the eastern Westmoreland area yesterday (August 3) with some 55 young persons participating from Bluefields and surrounding communities.
Participants also included representatives from the joint Indiana and Purlude University Summer Camp, now underway at the Bluefields All-Age School.
The anti-litter march, which was aimed at encouraging behavioural changes in citizens in relation to the proper collection and disposal of solid waste in Bluefields and adjoining communities, saw some two miles of roadway cleaned of garbage, and other debris, and anti-litter signs showcased along the route.
According to leader of the march and Chairman of BPCA, Keith Wedderburn, the anti-litter initiative is a success and has achieved the desired objectives. “The march was undoubtedly a great success with much assistance from the Bluefields police, who guided us along the way. We were able, not only to collect garbage along the two-mile roadway but also to sensitize citizens that they could become a part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem.
We have come to the realization there was much more work to be done and that just one march alone won’t bring about that necessary change,” Mr. Wedderburn noted.
He observed that since the BPCA Anti-litter Project was launched in 2001, some levels of responsible solid waste practices have been seen with citizens disposing their garbage in the correct manner. However he said the organisers were not totally satisfied, as more needed to be done.
“We therefore pledge to continue to expand the idea of the anti-litter march to include other areas and parishes as well as to find other ways of sensitizing the public at large to become our partners in this worthy activity,” he told JIS News.
Mr. Wedderburn added that, “We are aiming at getting more of the parish’s business community buying in on this idea as well as all the schools across the parish. In the end we hope to send a clear message that we intend to move beyond talk and see a reduced volume of solid waste being indiscriminately disposed in our communities”.
Now in its sixth year, the BPCA Anti-litter Project has adopted and cleaned two and a half miles of roadway weekly, with assistance from the Bluefields Environmental Protection Agency (BEPA).