Dominica’s capital looks good thanks to ‘clean-up crew’

The streets of Roseau are being kept clean under a new initiative from the minister for tourism and urban renewal.

Men and women, nicknamed ‘The Roseau Central Clean-up Crew’ by minister Robert Tonge, are working in partnership with Roseau City Council.

The day begins at 5am when cleaners head out, working until 9am.

They return to the streets at 2pm to ensure the city is kept clean.

Tonge, speaking over Facebook Live, said this initiative does not stop in central Roseau as he wants people coming into the capital to have a great experience along the way.

“We’ve started also cutting the grass from The Cove in Canefield all the way to Roseau,” he said.

“We also do the grass on the sides of the roads, the back road from St Aroment to the bottom to Bath Estate, from Bath Estate to the bridge all the way down to Roseau. We also do the Link Road to Goodwill behind the stadium.”

The grass at the two apartment buildings in Bath Estate and Elmshall, which were officially handed over in April 2017, are also taken care of by the ‘clean-up crew’, as well as some of the roads in Fortune.

‘Fix for the people, not just tourists’

“We’re looking to expand our program into Newtown because Newtown is another entrance into our Capital City and we have to ensure that every area is as clean as possible,” added Tonge.

The politician, who has been a senator in the Dominica Labour Party government since 2014, said the ‘clean-up crew’ cannot work across the entire island, urging everyone to do their part.

“We look forward to continue working for our people and by doing that also, it creates a better experience for you, and your visitor, and our visitors and it also provides income for those who are actually doing the jobs and those who are doing it very passionately.

“We are the ones who live in Roseau 24/7, the visitor comes here for a very short period of time, cruisers come here for a few hours, stay over visitors come here for about seven days, we have to take care of the city for ourselves.