Joint effort produces Town clean-up for opening ceremony

Zoe Lihou had pointed out several public bins and areas which were littered with graffiti, vape stickers and cigarette butts. She was delighted about the tidy up.

Mrs Lihou said that following the story, she had been approached by many people while out and about in Town, while the Constables’ Office had been 'overwhelmed' with meetings with a number of stakeholders to help address the issues.

‘We’ve had great conversations with States Works, Traffic & Highway Services, the police, Home Affairs and the prison service, as well as the Guernsey Retail Group and retailers themselves,’ she said.

‘States Works has refocused work crews to hastily clean up Town and surrounding areas.’

‘We all want to help make it look beautiful.’

Roads & Traffic Management manager Phil Ogier confirmed that States Works employees had been cleaning, pressure cleaning and disinfecting bins, as well as covering graffiti and removing a significant number of stickers from them.

‘This aspect of preparation for the Games is now largely complete, but road cleansing and bin emptying will continue as usual. We’d like to place our thanks on record to States Works and the staff involved for their ongoing efforts,’ he said.

Mrs Lihou added that discussions had taken place with local artist Tiffany Matthews and estate agents about the possibility of artwork and murals being installed at various locations around Town, including in some of the vacant properties on the High Street.

‘The energy and enthusiasm shown by everybody over the last week has been really good. The important thing now is to keep it going.’

‘We pay our taxes for this all-year round, not just for the Island Games.’