Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley, helping to paint the mural yesterday.
Senior Environmental Health Officer, Maurice Gaskin, delivering his remarks.
CLAMPDOWN
Sun, 04/24/2016 - 12:00am
Health official wants laws dealing with public urination enforced
Anyone caught engaging in the act of public urination could soon be facing the law courts.
That’s according to Senior Environmental Health Officer with the Ministry of Health, Maurice Gaskin. Speaking yesterday morning at the launch of the Bridgetown Urban Renaissance Project and the Artscape Mural Programme on Lower Broad Street in the City, he said just as the Ministry of Health is utilising the law to deal with illegal dumpers, there are a number of pieces of legislation on the statute books to address public urination and they will be actively pursuing persons who are using the alleys and streets in the City and elsewhere as public restrooms.
He explained that within the legislative framework to deal with such issues are the Health Services (Building) Regulations, the Health Services (Disposal of Offensive Matter) 1969 Regulations and Health Services (Nuisances) Regulations. However, he said that in order to effect change, they require the buy-in of the officers of the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) to arrest and bring persons before the courts. Gaskin made the point as he told those attending the launch that anyone found guilty could face a fine of $5 000 and/or 12 months in prison.
“It really saddens us that in these contemporary times, in the year 2016, you can still have persons using these alleys as public latrines when there are so many toilet facilities in many of our restaurants, business places, then you have toilet facilities at Cheapside, toilet facilities at the River Bus Terminal, toilet facilities at Fairchild Street and as I said many business organisations around Barbados,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley, joined Gaskin’s call for the RBPF to play their part in ensuring that the laws are enforced.
“It cannot be only left to the SSA to clean up your garbage. I believe that dropping litter on the street, urinating in the street and also in the alleys really must become things of the past. And if there are laws there to penalise this effort, I believe the laws have to be brought to light,” he said.
Minister Lashley added that just as how those caught dumping illegally are being asked to clean up their acts, he wants to see persons who are making a nuisance of themselves in the City in terms of littering and using the alleys as their bathrooms also having to clean up their acts. His comments came as he suggested that perhaps cameras could be set up to capture persons in the act and embarrass them.
“I believe that over the next month or so we should aim to see a number of them being arrested and being forced to return to the alleys and clean up whatever they’ve done in that alley,” he said. (JRT)