Call made for waste disposal education across St James

WESTERN BUREAU:

Amid the growing concerns about garbage collection in St James in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) is calling for initiatives to educate residents on how to better manage and dispose of their household waste.

The call came from councillors during last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the StJMC, following a report from the National Solid Waste Management Authority’s (NSWMA) Western Parks and Markets, stating that it had cleared approximately 17 illegal dump sites of bulky waste during the month of January, utilising some 16 tipper trucks.

Deputy Mayor of Montego Bay Dwight Crawford, the councillor for the Spring Garden Division, told the meeting that waste disposal education is needed among residents, especially in Catherine Hall, where residents continue to put out fresh household waste in spaces which were previously cleaned.

“In the Catherine Hall and the Westgreen area, which I am sure we are all very familiar with, I notice that so many months after the hurricane we are still seeing garbage coming out of homes,” said Crawford. “On many occasions I have been seeing on social media where persons are posting these pictures to portray a message, as though no work is happening inside of the Catherine Hall space, or that they are being ignored.

“I am calling on the NSWMA and the Ministry of Health, for us to sit together and try to find a way to educate the persons within the space, because I am starting to feel like the persons we are trying to protect are the ones that are fighting us in this space. I am also making an appeal to the residents to try and be a little more organised with how they are disposing of their garbage, because the diseases and threats that the garbage causes are going to affect them within their own homes.”

Catherine Hall and Westgreen suffered severe flooding during the passage of the hurricane, which impacted Jamaica on October 28 last year. Many homes were left knee-deep in mud and garbage, which took several weeks to be removed.

Gregory Harris, the councillor for the Salt Spring Division, said residents must play a greater role in waste reduction, citing the increase in commercial waste within the Cornwall Courts community due to the number of businesses operating in that area.

“While we beat the NSWMA, the residents also have to play a greater part. One of the things we have identified is that there is a lot of commercial activity taking place in Cornwall Courts, which increases the amount of garbage that is generated in the space,” said Harris. “The commitment has been given to have a meeting with those businesses that are in the space that are generating much more waste than the regular communities.”

Meanwhile, Michael Allen, the councillor for the Somerton Division, asked the NSWMA to provide more garbage collection service in the communities of that division.

“I have serious challenges with garbage, including in Somerton, Lima, Adelphi, Dumfries, and also Lottery,” said Allen. “The garbage skip in Dumfries and Canaan, in the housing scheme area, is not there any more, and I saw the residents moving the garbage across the border into Trelawny. The residents’ garbage is overwhelming, so I am asking if you can get some service in those areas.”

Following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, residents of St James have complained about the lack of garbage collection in their respective communities, which has resulted in increased concerns about rodent infestation.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com