The Editor:
The City of Burnaby has lost its way when it comes to community cleanliness.
I walk around this municipality and I see garbage everywhere...on the streets, in the parks, at bus stops, in the school yards and everywhere in between.
Our elected leaders have let us Burnaby residents down by burying their heads in the sand when it comes to the litter that blankets this city.
They do not prioritize that their sanitation crews proactively clean up this municipality.
They know that bus stops are hot beds for littering, but don't install garbage cans or work with TransLink to nip this problem in the bud.
They have no interest in mandating that construction sites and Burnaby businesses step up and clean up the garbage they produce that ends up everywhere.
That litter on the ground then encourages litterbugs to have a "don't care" attitude and drop their trash wherever they may be with no circumstances as bylaw officers infrequently write tickets for littering or illegal dumping (they've issued an average of two tickets a year between 2019 and 2023).
However, Burnaby city council are very keen on spending $15,000 last year to the Lower Mainland Green Team to set up five clean up events that cleaned up a relatively small amount of garbage.
That sum of money could be much better spent equipping, encouraging and rewarding individuals and community groups in Burnaby.
It's extremely disappointing that a city like Burnaby isn't treated like the jewel that it is, but is left to fester like an extension of East Vancouver.
- Martin Kendell, Burnaby
